Two of One
by Pyro Bear
Summary: AU from 'A New World' on. Something happend in Quor-Toth; just no one really knows what. But when Angel is actually faced with fatherhood, can he handle it? Complete.
1. She's Who

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. I may not even own the plot which may be owned by Ivorycat (read her stories, they're good!). She also may be writing for this, so look out for her input. Joss, the insane god he is, owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine.

****

Attention: Look, there will be talk of, if not seen, cases of child abuse from Holtz. This happens because in my time line, Holtz took much of his anger out on Casey, and some out on Connor. But Connor was the favorite child of the two. More about that later. There also may be instance of corporal punishment. I would like to inform people that child abuse and corporal punishment are two different things. Corporal punishment will only happen when there is need for it to happen, and it will always be done in a loving environment.

Author's Note: I am going to try and put my teenage characters though what normal teenagers go through. That may be bad grades, idiot teachers, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, and that such. Some may be embellished a little, but guess what? If they are, that's because I have yet to experience them in my high school. Now don't say that I make this some kind of soap opera, because quite frankly, life is one.

Summery- A girl from no where shows up, giving the Fang Gang one big surpise.

* * *

****

Chapter One- She's _Who_?

The Fang Gang watched the doors, hoping that "The Destroyer" would walk back through them, embracing them. Well, it was mostly Angel hoping for this to happen, the rest were looking towards Angel himself, worried about the souled vampire. The group staring festival was interrupted by the sound of something heavy falling on to the floor. They all turned around; fearing that another demon had come through the portal. But it was no such thing, instead a girl was backing herself towards the wall, looking around wildly, eyes wide in terror.

"Where's Stephen?" she asked, her voice trembling.

Angel's heart was pained when he heard the name that, that _man_ had dared to call his son. And that his son insisted on being called that. 

Cordelia was the first one to react towards the frightened girl, she kneeled down and slowly reaching out, as if she was about to comfort a frightened animal. "Stephen went outside," she pointed towards the doors, the girl's eyes followed, but soon were transfixed back on Cordelia's in an instant, but Cordelia kept on talking. "I really don't think you would want to go out there. Why don't we just up upstairs and make sure you can get more comfortable," Cordelia smiled once more and help the girl up.

The girl looked down at the ill-fitting clothes, and then looked back up at Cordelia. "Is there a stream were it would be possible for me to wash my clothes?"

Cordelia smiled on the outside, but on the inside, her heart broke, "Sweetheart, I think I can get you some new, and better fitting clothes."

The girl shook her head, "Please don't do that. If I lose these clothes, father will make sure I don't have any until Stephen grows out his. See, I don't do much, so I'm really just an extra mouth to feed," the girl sobbed, making her look much younger than she probably was.

"Sweetie, you don't have to worry, I promised. Now I'm Cordelia, Cordy if you like, now what's your name?" Cordelia wrapped an arm around the thin girl's shoulders.

"Casey," the girl said as she was led away by the bubbly Cordelia.

The rest of the group looked at each other, not really knowing what to do. "Who is Casey?" Fred asked, finally voicing the question that was on everybody's mind at the moment.

"I don't know, I really don't know" Angel said, sinking down into a couch.

"Don't worry Angel-cakes. We'll get everything sorted out eventually," Lorne put a comforting, if not awkward hand on the vampire's shoulder.

Angel looked up at the host, who had been nothing but a friend to him, "Thanks Lorne, thanks a lot. But I think I just need to be alone right now."

Lorne nodded, but before he turned away, he squeezed Angel's shoulder, giving his friend just one more reassurance that he had friends that were around and supported what ever he chose to do.

Dragging himself off the couch, he walked upstairs and past the room that Cordelia usually inhabited if she stayed overnight at the Hyperion. Knocking he walked in, hoping to unraveling this mystery that seemed to fall out of the portal.

"Angel, hi!" Cordelia greeted her best friend as he sank into a chair in the corner of the room.

"Did you learn anything?" he asked sullenly, all his energy was sapped out of him.

"Well, I'm not really sure how you're going to like this," Cordelia started off.

"How I'm going to like what?" Angel pursued some how he had a feeling that he was really _not_ going to like this.

"I'm your daughter," Casey said, leaning on the door jam that separated the adjoining bathroom from the rest of the room. She was wearing one of Cordelia's old tee shirts that hung off her thin frame.


	2. A Better Man

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. I may not even own the plot which may be owned by Ivorycat (read her stories, they're good!). She also may be writing for this, so look out for her input. Joss, the insane god he is, owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine.

****

Attention: Look, there will be talk of, if not seen, cases of child abuse from Holtz. This happens because in my time line, Holtz took much of his anger out on Casey, and some out on Connor. But Connor was the favorite child of the two. More about that later. There also may be instance of corporal punishment. I would like to inform people that child abuse and corporal punishment are two different things. Corporal punishment will only happen when there is need for it to happen, and it will always be done in a loving environment.

Author's Note: I am going to try and put my teenage characters though what normal teenagers go through. That may be bad grades, idiot teachers, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, and that such. Some may be embellished a little, but guess what? If they are, that's because I have yet to experience them in my high school. Now don't say that I make this some kind of soap opera, because quite frankly, life is one.

Summery- Angel tries to find the answers for his questions, but only more rocks are turned up.

* * *

Chapter Two-A Better Man

Angel walked swiftly down the apartment building's hall. He did not want to be here, but unless he wanted answers, he had to go to the one who might know the answers. Banging on the door, Angel tapped his foot, wanting to kill something, something _now_.

Wesley opened the door, and stared at the vampire, "Angel," he said wryly. "Are you here to finish off what you started?" as much as he tried, Wesley could not keep the bitterness out of his voice.

"As much as would like to, there's a little problem I need help with," Angel told the British man.

"And what am I then? You're little dictionary? I think not," Wesley tried to close the door, but Angel stopped him.

"It's about Connor, and the hell he was sent to," Angel played his son's card, knowing deep down that Wesley did care about the miracle child, and was only trying to look out for his well-being.

"Come in," Wesley said grudgingly.

As Angel walked into the apartment, the smell of alcohol drenched the place, making Angel cough a bit.

Nervously he started to pace around, not really sure what to say.

"Oh out with it man," Wesley said hotly, raising a half-empty bottle of Bourbon to his lips.

"Well you know how Holtz jumped into that portal with _my_ son," this time it was Angel who tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice. When Wesley nodded for him to go on, Angel continued, "Well we just had something rip though dimensions and out pops Connor, who now is known by Stephen. Well there's a nice little fight and then he leaves, fifteen minutes later, I wasn't counting really, a girl pops out of no where, asking where 'Stephen' is. I later find out that she's my daughter."

"Fascinating," Wesley muttered to himself and jumped up, something that seemed to remind Angel of the Wesley he once new and trusted. This one was a drunkard.

As the ex-watcher rummaged through books, Angel couldn't help but crack a small smile, this was the Wesley he knew, and wished he still did.

"I found it," Wesley slid a book under Angel's nose.

There in black and while, really gray and yellow, it stated that if a human went thought a portal into another dimension under a certain age, depending on the person, drastic deformities may happen.

"What does this tell us?" Angel asked the Englishman, not really understanding what the passage had to do with his predicament.

"This means that your son, once he passed into Quor-Toth, spilt into two different entities. One boy and one girl," Wesley answered.

"Thank you," Angel said as he walked towards the door, leaving Wesley standing in the room, the book resting in his hand.

"You're welcome," Wesley stated stiffly.

Just before Angel left the apartment, he turned back around and faced the other man. "You're welcome to the hotel any time. Would you like to come now?"

Wesley looked at the souled vampire, pride welling up in his heart. Putting the book down gently, he picked up he coat and walked toward Angel, who was waiting near the door. "You my friend, are a better man than I'll ever be," he said before he passed into the hall.


	3. The Meaning of Family

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. I may not even own the plot which may be owned by Ivorycat (read her stories, they're good!). She also may be writing for this, so look out for her input. Joss, the insane god he is, owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine.

****

Attention: Look, there will be talk of, if not seen, cases of child abuse from Holtz. This happens because in my time line, Holtz took much of his anger out on Casey, and some out on Connor. But Connor was the favorite child of the two. More about that later. There also may be instance of corporal punishment. I would like to inform people that child abuse and corporal punishment are two different things. Corporal punishment will only happen when there is need for it to happen, and it will always be done in a loving environment.

Author's Note: I am going to try and put my teenage characters though what normal teenagers go through. That may be bad grades, idiot teachers, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, and that such. Some may be embellished a little, but guess what? If they are, that's because I have yet to experience them in my high school. Now don't say that I make this some kind of soap opera, because quite frankly, life is one.

Summery: Casey and Cordelia have a nice long talk and Connor comes back to finish what he started.

* * *

****

Chapter Three: What Family Means

Cordelia lounged comfortably on the bed as Casey gingerly took a seat on the floor and that sat in silence for a few minutes as Casey took the room in. "I'm not real you know," Casey said softly.

"That's not true. You're sitting there, breathing. I can touch you, you can touch me. You are real," Cordelia slid off the bed and down to were Casey was sitting.

"That's not what Father said. He said I wasn't real, I wasn't supposed to be," she looked away from the former May Queen's gaze.

"Oh sweetie," Cordelia embraced the younger girl lightly. "Why don't we climb up on my bed and I can brush out your hair and you can tell me all about it."

So the two climbed upon the bed and Cordelia grabbed her brush from the nightstand and started to brush out the girl's hair. Soon the story of Casey's life came pouring out as her hair went from a tangled bird's nest to a silky curtain. By the time everything was done and over with, Casey was in tears as Cordelia gathered her up in her arms. Cordelia held her for a long time, just giving her the emotional support that Casey must have lacked when she was a child.

After a time, the sobbing stopped and Cordelia noticed that Casey had fallen asleep. Laying the girl down she covered her up and turned down the lights. Before leaving the room she took one last look at the broken girl. Her thoughts then turned to the people she once knew at Sunnydale, how they would laugh if they found out what was going on. Walking back downstairs, Cordelia's thoughts kept drifting back to her used-to-be's. Would she ever want to go back to that? Pretending that no body cared, and having all that money. No, she wouldn't go back to that, not when she was happy here.

"How is the little cupcake?" Lorne was the first one to ask as soon as he spotted her.

"She's okay I guess. I guess Holtz wasn't settled with just taking Connor, he took out all his frustrations on the poor girl. She doesn't seem to mind if I touch her, she probably doesn't fear any females. So Gunn, Lorne, you better keep some kind of distance. But then again I'm no expert, maybe she just loves my personality," Cordelia shrugged and went to go file something, she needed to keep her hands busy.

"Honey, I'm home!" Angel called as he and Wesley walked in.

"I knew I shouldn't have let him watch I Love Lucy," Gunn whispered to Fred who just cracked a grin.

"Charles!" she reprimand lightly.

Gunn just shrugged and wrapped an arm around his girlfriend; that's when he noticed Wesley.

"What's he doing here?" he asked, suspicion rising. 

"He's welcome back," Angel looked pointedly at Gunn, who just broke out into a grin. If Angel trusted him once more, he was more than happy to gain a friend.

"Welcome back English," Gunn held out his hand and Wesley gripped it firmly.

"It's good to be back friend," Wesley smiled and turned to Lorne. "No hard feelings I hope?"

Lorne shook his head, "None at all, you were worried for Junior then. But he ain't so little anymore."

Just then the doors were kicked in and Connor walked in, "I've come to finish what I started," he said with a sneer that twisted his handsome face into a nasty one.

And then he dove in.

As the battle between Father and Son commenced, Casey came downstairs, awakened by the noise. "Stephen!" she cried and rushed in, not even thinking about what kind of danger she was putting herself into.

As soon as Angel saw her, he stopped fighting, but Connor continued, landing a firm kick to his chest, sending him flying into the wall.

"Stephen stop!" Casey cried, Connor just glared at her.

"Get out of the way," he growled.

"No," she stood her ground.

"I said get out of the way!" he cried, before backhanding her, sending her into tears.

Cordelia looked at the scene that went on in front of her. Obviously Casey had a side that they had yet to see before that moment, she seemed to be a stubborn little thing. But as soon as 'Stephen' had raised his hand, that person melted away, leaving a shell.

Cordelia rushed forward, not really realizing what she was about to do and pulled Connor a step back or two. "You don't treat woman like that," she growled, sounding much like Connor just had.

"Get out of my way," Connor narrowed his eyes, but Cordelia stood her ground. By this time Angel had stood up and took a step closer to the pair.

"No," Cordelia acted just the way Casey had. By this time Angel was right next to Casey and he gently laid a hand upon her shoulder; Casey shied away for a bit before she just simply let it rest on her shoulder. 

"I say get out of my way!" Once again Connor raised his hand, but Angel had rushed forward to grab it. 

"If you even think about slapping her…" he trailed off, letting his threat hang in the air.

Connor lowered his hand and looked at the people that surrounded him. He smirked the tiniest bit before spitting at Casey's feet, "Traitor," he whispered before once again, running off. But this time, Angel didn't bother to follow him, instead he turned his attentions on Casey.

"Are you okay?" he asked, lifting her hand away from the injured cheek. He hissed when he saw the forming bruise.

"Fred went to get an ice pack," Cordelia said softly.

Soon Fred came back with the aforementioned item and gingerly Casey applied it to her face. Cordelia led he to a chair and sat down next to the teenage girl.

"Why are you doing this?" Casey asked after a moment.

"Why are we doing what?" Cordelia asked.

"Why are you being so kind?" Casey clarified.

Angel looked at her, the small smile he was famous for playing at his lips, "Because we're family, and that's what family does."

* * *

Author's Note 2: Yes, I know Connor has a few problems with verbally communicating. But then again, remember when he first came back, he wasn't a chatty guy at all. And with the whole smacking around thing? Well, when his only role model was Holtz, who beat up on Casey, well you can figure out where that led to.


	4. The Real Traitor

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. I may not even own the plot which may be owned by Ivorycat (read her stories, they're good!). She also may be writing for this, so look out for her input. Joss, the insane god he is, owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine.

****

Attention: Look, there will be talk of, if not seen, cases of child abuse from Holtz. This happens because in my time line, Holtz took much of his anger out on Casey, and some out on Connor. But Connor was the favorite child of the two. More about that later. There also may be instance of corporal punishment. I would like to inform people that child abuse and corporal punishment are two different things. Corporal punishment will only happen when there is need for it to happen, and it will always be done in a loving environment.

Author's Note: I am going to try and put my teenage characters though what normal teenagers go through. That may be bad grades, idiot teachers, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, and that such. Some may be embellished a little, but guess what? If they are, that's because I have yet to experience them in my high school. Now don't say that I make this some kind of soap opera, because quite frankly, life is one.

Summery: When the Fang Gang learns of Connor's misdeed, people take it different ways.

* * *

****

Chapter Four: The Real Traitor

As the month passed Connor came around more and more, getting comfortable with the people that lived in the Hyperion. The people in the Hyperion warmed up to Connor slowly but surely, not really knowing what the volatile teenager would too if provoked.

Casey had quickly adapted to the people around her. Once observing how the males acted around her, she grew somewhat more comfortable. But the only times she fully felt relaxed was when she was around Cordelia, the first person who had shown her kindness in this strange world. The Fang Gang knew Casey as a fun loving girl that would stand up for her rights. The only time that anyone saw her not do this was when Connor was around.

Whenever the brother and sister were around one another Connor was dominating and Casey was submissive. But even then she held a small amount of anger towards him. She was still uneasy around him, maybe it was because she grew up with him, but who knew.

But Connor aside, Casey was generally happy with her new life. Once she became Cordelia's constant shadow, she grew to love the busy life that was LA. Even by just being around Cordelia so much, she grew to trust Angel himself. She even got the two to admit their 'mutual attraction' to one another, which was a big plus on her side.

On the night of Cordelia and Angel's first date, Angel asked Cordelia to wait at the hotel as he prepared a moonlit picnic by the beach. With this in mind he went by himself to set everything up, promising to call once everything was set up, the only thing was, he never called. Everyone soon became concerned when dawn came rolling around, but there was nothing they could do, save for try and keep calling his cell phone and waiting.

When Connor came home from his nightly romps and saw everyone waiting around, he just shrugged it off and went to bed. This just made Casey's hackles rise. She knew that he had a crush on Cordy, it was blatantly obvious, but it was also blatantly obvious that Cordelia was in love with Angel so Connor didn't even stand a chance. But what really bothered her was that Connor didn't even stop to ask what was wrong.

And that just pissed her off even more.

Casey genuinely liked Angel; he had accepted her as his daughter and treated her, as a father should, not the way Holtz had. And he had done more of it in one month than Holtz ever had. Casey enjoyed her life, and if she found out that Connor had anything to do with messing it up, there would be hell to pay.

Angel never came home that evening, leaving Lorne, Wesley, Gunn, Fred, Cordelia, and Casey in turmoil. Connor acted as if nothing had happened, although he did partake in the nightly patrols, but usually he just went off on his own, coming back at dawn. Casey was still suspicious of her brother, but without any proof, she had nothing, so she just put those suspicions in the back of her mind and that's the way life was over the summer.

Until one day she started to look through and practice some mental exercises that were in the books Wesley didn't know Casey was looking at. Relaxing, as was her custom, she felt her inner being rise up and begin to float. She was looking for things to explore when she came across Connor who was sprawled out upon his bed, sleeping. Looking at him though her mind's eye, Casey debated if she should enter his mind or not. Finally her curiosity got the better of her and she dove in.

What she found surprised her and she soon found herself back in her body. Her eyes were opened wide and her breathing was rapid and heavy. "Oh my God," she whispered to herself and went to stand up. She had to find Wesley. Casey knew that Wesley would most likely be upset with her for going though his stuff, but finding out where Angel was, was a much more important thing to worry about.

Casey was right, Wesley was rather perturbed at her for going though his stuff and promptly set her off to catalogue the new shipments of books they had gotten in. It was a boring task, but Casey did it in the neat handwriting that Holtz had required from her. Maybe what he taught her wasn't all bad, just most of it was. She heard Wesley and Gunn leave and she prayed that they would find Angel soon, both she and Cordelia missed the souled vampire greatly.

As Casey was finished writing down all the books, she turned to see Fred dragging an unconscious Connor down the stairs. "Good, you got him," Casey said sweetly, letting a dark side, a by-product of living in Quor-Toth, show itself.

"Yes I do, now will you help me?" Fred asked. The two carried him into the kitchen and tied him up.

Just as Connor regained continuousness Casey heard Wesley and Gunn come in, half-dragging something rather heavy in. Casey turned for just a second and saw the two men put Angel on a couch. Seeing the tiny scabs on Wesley's arm, Casey realized what was happening to her father, at least the closest thing she was going to get to a father. Rushing towards him, she pulled up her sleeve and put it close to Angel's mouth.

As Angel stopped drinking from Casey's arm, there was a loud crash, as if someone hit the wall.

"Fred!" Gunn ran in to see his girlfriend slumped against the wall.

Gunn charged at Connor, who just sent him flying towards Fred, knocking him out. By that time Cordelia had come downstairs with Lorne, when they both saw Angel in the lobby, they rushed over to him, Cordelia in tears. With their help he walked over to the kitchen where Casey was standing in the doorway, looking at Connor, holding his attention.

"Look who the traitor is now," she whispered, giving a manacle grin.

"It's still you, you know," Connor spit out, but his eyes remained locked upon hers.

Slowly Angel put a hand on Casey's shoulder, but unlike the first time he did this, she didn't shrink away. "It's my turn," he whispered into her ear. She nodded and looked away, towards Gunn and Fred who were just waking up.

"Sit down," Angel commanded. Connor looked at him, rebellion clearly written in his eyes, but after a moment, he did what he was told.

Angel looked at him, and gave him a friendly smile, "So, how was your summer? Mine was fun. Saw some fish. Went mad with hunger. Hallucinated a whole bunch."

Connor scowled, "You deserved worse."

Angel raised an eyebrow at this, "Because I killed Holtz? Except I didn't. I tried telling you that while you were busy offshore dumping me, but I didn't know the whole score. Holtz killed himself. Actually, he had your buddy Justine do it with an ice pick. Just to make you hate me."

Connor looked at him, the information sinking in, "Even if - you still deserved it," he sputtered.

Angel just crept closer to him and kneeled down to his level. "What you did to me - was unbelievable, Connor. But then I got stuck in a hell dimension by my girlfriend one time for a hundred years, so three months under the ocean actually gave me perspective. Kind of a M. C. Esher perspective - but I did get time to think. About us, about the world. Nothing in the world is the way it ought to be. It's harsh, and cruel. But that's why there's us. Champions. It doesn't matter where we come from, what we've done or suffered, or even if we make a difference. We live as though the world was what it should be, to show it what it can be. You're not a part of that yet. I hope you will be." Angel sighed; this next decision of his was going to be one of the hardest ones he would ever have to make. "I love you, Connor. Now get out of my house."

Connor stood up and brushed past Casey, running back out into the night, leaving Angel to sink to the floor out of pure tiredness. 

* * *

Okay, people, I'm sure you recognized passages and dialogue from the episode Deep Down. Well God. There was a reason why I put them in there. Okay, for clarification, Lorne never went to Vegas and Cordy never became a higher being. Wesley's good, cause I like the tough rugged him. So there. And we really do need him. Oh yeah, please review, I love the ones I got, but I really do love the ones I do get!


	5. The Time for the Crime

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. I may not even own the plot which may be owned by Ivorycat (read her stories, they're good!). She also may be writing for this, so look out for her input. Joss, the insane god he is, owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine.

****

Attention: Look, there will be talk of, if not seen, cases of child abuse from Holtz. This happens because in my time line, Holtz took much of his anger out on Casey, and some out on Connor. But Connor was the favorite child of the two. More about that later. There also may be instance of corporal punishment. I would like to inform people that child abuse and corporal punishment are two different things. Corporal punishment will only happen when there is need for it to happen, and it will always be done in a loving environment.

Author's Note: I am going to try and put my teenage characters though what normal teenagers go through. That may be bad grades, idiot teachers, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, and that such. Some may be embellished a little, but guess what? If they are, that's because I have yet to experience them in my high school. Now don't say that I make this some kind of soap opera, because quite frankly, life is one.

Summery: Casey finds out how Connor's living and bails him out.

* * *

****

Chapter Five: The Time for the Crime

Casey handed her money to the bouncer and threaded her way though the crowd. Gunn had made it in before her and Fred was somewhere behind her. This wasn't the first time she had been out to help a client, but this had been the first time she didn't have anyone shadowing her every move as she fought.

Well she wasn't really fighting. Cordelia thought it was a good idea for her to socialize, after all in a few short weeks she'd be going to high school, and Angel though that it would be good for her to observe and be on hand if anything got out of hand.

It really suited her fine, she enjoyed getting dressed up and blending in with people who had normal lives, blending in with people that didn't know things go bump in the night. As she walked towards the bar to get a water, she saw Fred and waved the tiniest bit, Fred just smiled.

As she walked away from the bar she walked towards the front of the club, wanting some fresh air. That's when she saw Connor. How the hell he had scrounged up the money to get in was past her. There looked like a fight had broken out between him and the bouncers. And quite frankly, if no one stepped in, Connor would be in a heap of trouble. 

Threading her way though the crowd, Casey looked for either Gunn or Fred, she found Gunn first. Quietly explaining the situation to him in vague terms, Casey hurried back to where she had seen Connor previously. There in front of her eyes she saw Connor getting handcuffed by a police officer.

Making a split second decision, she rushed in, "Connor!" she cried, drawling both Connor and the policeman's attention.

"Do you know this young man?" the police officer asked.

"Aye de me, of course I do. He's my brother. You see we just moved here and our father wanted us to socialize, I didn't think he'd get in trouble." Casey wailed, making the whole thing up.

"Well miss, do you have a ride?" the police officer asked.

Casey shook her head, "Would it be all right if I went with you? Besides, Connor is a little bit of a trouble maker and my father might be a little bit more reasonable if he heard it from me."

The police officer nodded and led the two teens to the patrol car, one in handcuffs, and the other free. As they drove, the police officer paid no attention to the two teens in the back, which was just as well, because if he had, he would have seriously thought about locking the two up for being under the influence of drugs.

"You didn't have to do that you know," Connor snapped as soon as they started to drive.

"Yeah, but just think I'm doing you a favor. You would have called him eventually. Just think he won't be as hard on you if I call. Besides Gunn knows and they will finish up and tell him. Then I'll call," Casey smirked.

"I wouldn't have," Connor hissed and Casey rolled her eyes.

"Shut up will you?" she demanded of him, and then pinched him on his arm.

Connor shot her a dark look but stayed silent. He kicked her lightly though, which just caused her to pinch harder in the same spot.

By the time they had arrived at the local precinct, Connor was sporting a rather large bruise on his arm. Casey had been able to avoid most of Connor's kicks so he had been the only injured throughout the car ride. When they walked into the stone building Angel was already waiting for them.

"Hi Daddy," Casey smiled an innocent smile, while Connor rolled his eyes. He couldn't understand why she was sucking up to the guy.

Angel quickly signed for Connor and dragged him to the car. That's when he noticed the black and blue mark on Connor's arm. "What happened?" he asked, going into what many of the fang gang called 'papa bear mode'.

"She did," Connor jerked his head toward an nonchalant Casey.

"Casey," Angel sighed.

"What, he deserved it," Casey started to sound like Cordelia did when Angel first met her, and that was not good.

"Well I hate to break up this love fest, but I have to go," Connor tried to jerk out of Angel's grip, but Angel just pulled him back.

"I don't think so bub. I really don't feel like bailing your ass out of jail everyday. You're coming home with me. Where you belong," Angel started to drag both of his children towards his Cadillac.

"Fuck no," Connor challenged, standing firm where he stood.

Angel let go of Casey for a second and a firm swat landed on Connor's behind, surprising him into moving. As they drove along Angel started to lecture the two, who had yet to give up their petty argument.

"Look," he voice was so sharp both his teenagers look up front. "I don't know how Holtz brought you up, and I don't care. But you will give people the proper respect that they deserve. This may be cliché, but treat others the way you want to be treated. Punishments will vary from extra chores to spankings. You step out of line and your butt is mine, got it?" 

"Yeah, sure, I got it," Connor mumbled.

"What was that?" Angel looked back at his son. 

"I understand," Connor said sullenly.

"I understand Dad," Casey chirped, making Connor glare at her. What a friggin' brown noser she was.


	6. The First Day of Hell

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. I may not even own the plot which may be owned by Ivorycat (read her stories, they're good!). She also may be writing for this, so look out for her input. Joss, the insane god he is, owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine. Also, a line in this story is used a lot, and it belongs to Ivorycat as well. You'll live.

****

Attention: Look, there will be talk of, if not seen, cases of child abuse from Holtz. This happens because in my time line, Holtz took much of his anger out on Casey, and some out on Connor. But Connor was the favorite child of the two. More about that later. There also may be instance of corporal punishment. I would like to inform people that child abuse and corporal punishment are two different things. Corporal punishment will only happen when there is need for it to happen, and it will always be done in a loving environment.

Author's Note: I am going to try and put my teenage characters though what normal teenagers go through. That may be bad grades, idiot teachers, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, and that such. Some may be embellished a little, but guess what? If they are, that's because I have yet to experience them in my high school. Now don't say that I make this some kind of soap opera, because quite frankly, life is one.

Summery: School's just peachy keen, but after school's so much better.

* * *

****

Chapter Six: The First Day of Hell

"Welcome to your first day of hell. Hopefully it won't be as bad as my own days," Cordelia shuddered at the thought of her dysfunctional high school.

"Thanks Cordy, love ya!" Casey smiled brightly and jumped out of the car. Connor just grunted something out. Cordelia didn't even bother to figure out what he said; after all he was just being his usual grumpy self. After all, it was his fault that he got in a little before the crack of dawn. The two siblings waved until the car was out of site before Casey turned towards her brother.

"Look, I'm going to make the best of this situation and I don't need you to mess this up for me. If you even try and embarrass me, I will make sure something soft and squishy is in your bed tonight, got it?" Casey threatened and stalked off to find her friend Lissa, who she had met weeks before at a club.

"Lissa!" Casey flagged down her now blue-haired friend. When they had first met, her hair had been purple.

"Casey, who's that dark and handsome guy you got out of the car with? And were you threatening him?" the blue-haired and green-eyed girl asked, a smirk playing upon her lips.

Casey just snorted, "My brother. Don't get mixed up with him though, he's bad news, like tabloid bad news. My dad had to kick him out of the house, the only reason he's back is because the police picked him up."

Lissa grinned at the comment as she licked her lips, "Ooh, a bad boy. Me like."

Casey rolled her eyes; "You like anything that walks on two legs and that you can wrap around your little finger, you slut. But we should get to class, my backside is depending on me showing up to class," Casey shuddered as she swung her bag up from the ground and across her shoulders.

Lissa winced, "I'm so sorry, but off to physics we go. And to the batty teacher as well."

By the time lunch rolled around, Casey was about to scream. "What in hell possessed me to take both physics and calculus in the same year? Then add that cooking class…jeez, I'm all numbered out," Casey complained to Lissa who was busy unwrapping a pop tart.

"You were the stupid one I'll say. I would have just said screw it and then signed up for easy courses. Of course there is the physics course, oh well, I'm the science genius," Lissa shrugged, finally unwrapping her lunch, taking a bite of the first pastry.

"Oh, I know why I'm taking these things, my father had Wesley stand over me," Casey rolled her eyes as she tool a sip of her bottled water. She had been caught once again looking through Wesley's books with out him knowing beforehand. So once again she was sent to work on filing and made to take rather challenging courses so she would not have time for her snooping.

"You seriously have a big family don't you? It must be a pain during the holidays," Lissa asked, finishing her packaged pastries.

"You have no idea," Casey shook her head and they let the subject drop.

When Casey walked in the door of the Hyperion Hotel, she found Gunn cleaning off weapons that he had used the night before. "Not going to comment," she told him as she took a seat next to him on the round couch thing that they had in the lobby. Her bag was leaning against her leg, on the ground.

"Tough time?" Gunn asked, not looking up from the axe.

"It sucks," Casey muttered groping in her bag to find her Mythology textbook and Latin textbook. "I have to friggin' textbooks for one class!"

Gunn laughed, "That's why I dropped out Sparkles.

Casey shook her head, "If I did that, Dad would have my ass and then my head on a silver platter. No thanks. I don't do pain."

That night Casey was getting ready to out when Angel knocked and entered. Casey turned and smiled, "Why don't you come in Dad?" she joked.

Angel cracked a smile at the joke, but then turned serious. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked.

"Out, I've done all my homework, honest. Why d'ya ask?" Casey asked as she turned towards him.

"Well I didn't think you'd forget about yesterday," Angel looked at her sternly.

"Oh but Daddy," Casey begged, looking at him with her eyes wide, "That's not fair. What if I brought Connor along with me?"

Angel sighed, his little girl had him wrapped around her little finger, and he knew it. "Go ask him," he shrugged.

Casey bounded out of the room and ran into Connor's; who was listening to music and sketching in his American History textbook. "Connor, I don't know what you're drawing in there, and I don't want to. But your going to stop it and go out with me tonight," she commanded.

"I am?" he asked, raising his eyebrow, a perfect imitation of their father.

His twin just glared at him, "Lissa and I have boy scouting plans and I can't go if you don't go. Now if you don't comply, I'll friggin' kill you.

Connor just sighed and got off his bed. They both walked back to Casey's room where Angel was waiting. "Okay you two. If I have to pick either of you up from the police, your' butts are mine. There will be no illegal activity or your butts are mine. Got it?" Angel looked at the two of them, who just nodded in agreement. "Have a good time you two."

An hour later they found themselves in the front row of a concert that was being preformed at the club Ocean's Secret, Lissa was no where to be found. The two siblings didn't speak to one another the whole time, each loathing the other one's company. At the end of the performance, a beer was shoved into their hands. Nervously they drank them, not wanting to feel out of place. Soon they found themselves outside the bar, Connor didn't want to be there in the first place and Casey had no fun if Lissa wasn't there to boy scout with her.

The two siblings looked at each other. If their dad knew that there had been drinking going on, he would act upon his threat. They swallowed at the same time as they walked towards the hotel.

"We don't tell dad, agreed?" Casey asked, knowing that she'd get most of the blame if Angel found out.

"Agreed."


	7. Sibling Rivalry?

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. I may not even own the plot which may be owned by Ivorycat (read her stories, they're good!). She also may be writing for this, so look out for her input. Joss, the insane god he is, owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine.

****

Attention: Look, there will be talk of, if not seen, cases of child abuse from Holtz. This happens because in my time line, Holtz took much of his anger out on Casey, and some out on Connor. But Connor was the favorite child of the two. More about that later. There also may be instance of corporal punishment. I would like to inform people that child abuse and corporal punishment are two different things. Corporal punishment will only happen when there is need for it to happen, and it will always be done in a loving environment.

Author's Note: I am going to try and put my teenage characters though what normal teenagers go through. That may be bad grades, idiot teachers, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, and that such. Some may be embellished a little, but guess what? If they are, that's because I have yet to experience them in my high school. Now don't say that I make this some kind of soap opera, because quite frankly, life is one.

Summery: When does sibling rivalry go too far? Or never far enough?

* * *

Chapter Seven: Sibling Rivalry?

Connor gritted his teeth as yet another song started from his sister's room. Finally he couldn't take it anymore. Throwing down his pen that he had been using to do his math, he stalked through the hallway and into Casey's room. He found her sleeping. Damn her. She thought she was perfect, and it sickened him.

Mid-quarter reports came out last week and she had gotten A, B, B+, A-, A+, A. And it's not like she even worked for the grades. She comes home, eats, and then talks on the phone. Besides that, she usually went out after eight anyway. He never saw her actually study, and that pissed him off. He had gotten C, C+, B-, A, D, D+. The only reason he was getting an A at all was because of gym, the only class he was good at.

Walking over to where her radio was, Connor switched it off. Maybe he could now do his work, if not, that would be the last time people would be hearing about or from him in a while.

"I was listening to that you know," Casey's voice came from behind him.

"No you weren't," Connor turned around and faced his sister.

"Yeah I was. I was trying to meditate. So thanks for interrupting me. Be a good little boy and turn it back on, will you?" Casey's eyes narrowed.

Connor's eyes narrowed as well. "Bull. I'm trying to do homework. So I guess that overrides that now, huh?"

Casey rolled her eyes as she stood up. "Your story breaks my hear, it really does. But guess what, you're not only full of it, but you're also full of yourself."

Connor looked at her, "I'm full of myself?" he laughed, "Take a look in the mirror. You aren't little Miss Perfect. You're the one who's full of herself."

Casey flipped him off. "Bite me Juvie," she sneered.

Before she could react, Connor stepped over to her and lifted her arm to his mouth. And he bit her, hard.

"Oh my fucking god!" Casey screamed, and kept screaming until a pretty large crowd had formed in her room.

"Chill cupcake. All that screaming's hurting my ears," Lorne said, covering the aforementioned body part. 

Casey calmed down enough so she wasn't hyperventilating, but she was still pretty shook up. "He bit me," she sputtered.

"What?" Angel's eyes narrowed as he looked at Connor, who didn't meet his eyes.

"Connor bit me," Casey repeated.

Angel sighed and rubbed his face. Who knew that fatherhood was this difficult? He was a little late in having a mid-life crisis, after all he was dead. "Okay guys, I think I can handle it from here." The other nodded and they filed out, leaving Angel with his two teenager children. "Okay, tell me what happened," Angel asked.

By this time Connor was curing himself. He should have gotten out when he had the chance. If he tried to bail out now, either through the door or the window, his father would have him over his knew before he took his second step.

"And that's when he bit me," Casey sobbed. Connor rolled his eyes. She was such a brown-noser. Besides it was not like he had bit her _that_ hard. He hadn't even drawn blood, well at least not much of it.

"I guess I should stick up for myself. I was trying to do homework. I couldn't do that because I couldn't concentrated because I could hear her music. So I came in, and she was sleeping, so I turned it off," Connor shrugged.

"But you bit her," Angel put in. He couldn't even understand where that part came in.

"She told me to, so I did," Connor shrugged again, he hadn't done anything wrong.

"Connor come with me," Angel finally said after a few moments.

Connor looked up. What? This was _not_ how it was supposed to turn out. Connor turned and looked at his sister, 'Have fun' she mouthed, sneering. Connor just flipped her off and followed his father.

As they walked into Connor's room Angel looked at his son. "Sit," he ordered.

Connor sat, but looked at his father, "I'm not a dog you know."

Angel just glared at his son, "Then stop acting like one!"

* * *

Author's Note 2: Okay people, who hate me now? I know, a slight cliffhanger, but you'll all deal, right? So who wants to give me ideas? After the next chapter, I have no more ideas, except for one, which I really don't like. Oh yeah, who hates Casey yet? 


	8. Running

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. I may not even own the plot which may be owned by Ivorycat (read her stories, they're good!). She also may be writing for this, so look out for her input. Joss, the insane god he is, owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine.

****

Attention: Look, there will be talk of, if not seen, cases of child abuse from Holtz. This happens because in my time line, Holtz took much of his anger out on Casey, and some out on Connor. But Connor was the favorite child of the two. More about that later. There also may be instance of corporal punishment. I would like to inform people that child abuse and corporal punishment are two different things. Corporal punishment will only happen when there is need for it to happen, and it will always be done in a loving environment.

Author's Note: I am going to try and put my teenage characters though what normal teenagers go through. That may be bad grades, idiot teachers, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, and that such. Some may be embellished a little, but guess what? If they are, that's because I have yet to experience them in my high school. Now don't say that I make this some kind of soap opera, because quite frankly, life is one.

Summery: Connor decides he doesn't like the judgement Angel deals.

* * *

Chapter Eight: Running

Connor looked at his father and spit. Angel narrowed his eyes as he walked over to where his son was sitting and hauled him up. Propelling him into the corner, Angel proceeded to stand him in the corner and lecture him.

"Since it would be illegal for me to punish you as a dog, even though you are acting like one. I will have to settle for a toddler. Teenagers don't bite people, they should know better. Not only teenagers should know better, you should. I don't know how Holtz raised you, but if it included in anyway looking down upon any female, or anyone weaker than you, it ends here! Got it?" Angel walked over to where a fidgeting Connor stood.

Angel slapped his son's behind, making Connor jump. "Got it," he mumbled.

"Good. Now since you're acting so childish, you're going to be treated like one. Now I'm going to have you stand there for ten minutes. And if you're not there when I return, there _will_ be hell to pay. And that's a promise," Angel said his last comment firmly and closed the door with an authoritative thump.

Connor listened as his father's footsteps faded and he looked towards the window. Should he make the getaway? If he left, he'd not only be humiliated if he stayed, but it'd be ten times worse. But if he stayed, his dad would think he actually would _submit_ to this stupid policy.

So he walked over and opened the window; slipping onto the fire escape, he looked down, it wasn't too far to jump. Closing his eyes, he felt himself fly for just a second, just before he took off.

Eight minutes later, Angel stood in front of his son's room and listened. He couldn't hear sounds of breathing, so he stepped in. Connor was gone. He should have expected this to happen, it usually was Connor's instincts to run, so why not do it now? 

Angel wasn't going to follow Connor, oh no. It was Connor's decision to run, and the longer he delayed, the harder it will be for him. Angel wasn't going to run after a 16-year-old like he was 6. Connor should be old enough to know right from wrong, but it was looking like the lines were being erased.

Connor ran; he didn't know where, but he was running. He finally stopped when he reached the pizza place he knew that many people his age hung out. Shuffling through his pockets, he was surprised to see that he had his wallet with him, and it had money in it as well. Shrugged he walked in an ordered a medium pizza with all the toppings. Someone had brought McDonalds for dinner and when Connor found it, it was just a cold mess of grease. Pizza looked a lot more appetizing then the pile of grease he was offered only a sum odd hour or two ago.

As he began to indulge on his pizza a visitor interrupted him.

"I'm Claire," she smiled as she took a sip of her orange soda.

"Connor," he grunted as he took a bit of pizza.

"Not much of a talker, huh?" she laughed.

Connor liked her laugh; it was rather pretty. But then again, what did he know about pretty things? That was Casey's area, not his. "Never was," he smiled shyly.

"You're cute ya know. So what's your deal. People see you in school and stuff, but you never talk. Some think you're some snob, and others think you're a druggie, so what is it?" She asked, taking another sip.

Connor snorted; at least she was being up front, and not pretending to be a friend. "I found out my life was a lie. Don't really care about what happens to me. I only go to school because I'm forced to. So now that you know my life story, why don't you go run to your little friends and report back to them? " Connor stopped for a second, he was starting to sound like Casey, this could not be good.

Claire looked at him, her head cocked to the side in a cocky motion, "You my friend are full of yourself."

Connor looked at her, snorting once again, "Wouldn't be the first time I heard someone say that."

Claire smirked, "Good, so now I know that you aren't treating me special. But back to what I was saying. I came over because you looked lonely. And you just spilled your guts, so guess what, you got me on your back. Say hello to your new best friend," Claire held out a hand.

Connor took it gently and Claire shook it. "Nice ta meet ya. Ohh, looky pizza, can I have a slice? Thanks!" she took one before Connor could answer, but he shrugged it off, it's not like he could eat it all himself anyway. 

"Connor!" Casey's voice rang through the restaurant. Connor sank down in his seat as Claire watched in amusement.

"What the hell do you want? Haven't you ruined my life enough tonight?" Connor grumbled a she came prancing over.

Casey just snorted, "Yeah, and like I wanted to risk the idea that I might have to stay home when I'm having a weekend with Lissa and the girls? Yeah right."

Connor glared at her, "If you even think about alerting the presses about my whereabouts, I'll personally make sure they know about you skipping Mrs. Connely's class."

"Fine, but don't let Daddy catch you," Casey said, flipping her hair as she walked off.

Connor sighed and took another bite of his pizza. Casey was stuck up; there was no doubt about it.

Claire sighed and looked at Connor, "It looks like you need a place to stay for the night. Do ya need to crash?"

Connor looked up, "That'd be nice," he smiled and Claire giggled.

"You have a nice smile, and why don't you get this wrapped up so we can eat it for breakfast tomorrow?" she asked, flagging down a waiter.

* * *

Author's Note 2: Okay, I'm sure a lot of you are cursing me right now because you just want Connor to be spanked. Or maybe you want Casey to be spanked. And I know I'm holding off on it. Mainly because I'm nervous about writing it, and because I feel it adds to drama to have everything build up. Besides, I'm getting a bunch of these ideas all of a sudden (like gym for instance, one of the strangest places huh? You'll see that scene later on, hint: it's between Claire and Connor). But yeah, that's my reasoning, but will someone please (stressing on the please) send in some ideas? I don't have gym everyday, so that axes that place to zone off. Please review as well. 


	9. A Friend

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. I may not even own the plot which may be owned by Ivorycat (read her stories, they're good!). She also may be writing for this, so look out for her input. Joss, the insane god he is, owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine.

****

Attention: Look, there will be talk of, if not seen, cases of child abuse from Holtz. This happens because in my time line, Holtz took much of his anger out on Casey, and some out on Connor. But Connor was the favorite child of the two. More about that later. There also may be instance of corporal punishment. I would like to inform people that child abuse and corporal punishment are two different things. Corporal punishment will only happen when there is need for it to happen, and it will always be done in a loving environment.

Author's Note: I am going to try and put my teenage characters though what normal teenagers go through. That may be bad grades, idiot teachers, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, and that such. Some may be embellished a little, but guess what? If they are, that's because I have yet to experience them in my high school. Now don't say that I make this some kind of soap opera, because quite frankly, life is one.

Summery: When a Night of fun turns drastically wrong, whose to blame?

* * *

Chapter Nine: A Friend

Casey's mouth curved into a nasty pout as she left the restaurant where she just saw Connor. He was such a screw up! Why couldn't he take it like a man and let her make her exit, but no, he had to leave and make Angel come after her for playing music while Connor was doing homework. As if it was that loud! Hello, it was just supposed to be background noise!

Gritting her teeth, she numbed her tongue by sucking on ice chips continually. She had also taken Aleve about fifteen minutes before hand and in the next five minutes she would not feel a think in her mouth.

"Are you sure you want to do this? I don't know your dad, but with what you tell me, he'll kill you when he finds out," Lissa said as they walked along.

"But I'm Daddy's little princess. I don't do stuff like that. That's Connor's job," Casey grinned as she popped another ice chip into an already cold mouth.

"You give him such a hard time. Shouldn't you just lay off of him?' Lissa asked.

Casey sighed an exaggerated sigh, "He's not only a boy, he's a brat. But let's not forget he's totally ignorant as well."

Lissa shrugged. Casey always put down her twin. It was some stupid rivalry between the two that make she had no part of. Thank god she didn't have a sibling around her age to fight with.

"Here we are. Look, we go in, get it done. Chris said he would do this because he's not pissed off at me and he can get paid. Of course if our parents found out he was doing this, they'd have his head/ They day that they're determined to have a normal child," Lissa sighed.

"Oh, is your mother pregnant?" Casey cracked, her speech slightly slurred.

Lissa gave her friend a friendly shove into the place where Lissa's brother worked. If Casey wanted to do what she was planning on doing, the sooner they did it, the better. And the sooner they could get back into the safe part of town.

They left within thirty minutes, both Casey and Lissa silent. As they headed towards the better section of town, Lissa found herself pulled into the line for the club 'Moonlight &'. Sighing, she let it happen.

As they walked in, Casey walked right onto the dance floor, since she was always one to be in the center of things. She probably wanted to show off as well. Lissa went off to the side, suddenly shy.

"Hey beautiful," a smooth voice was carried to her ears.

Turning around, she saw a guy in his late teens standing in front of her. "Who, me?" Lissa asked as she pointed to herself. The guy nodded and Lissa blushed as the guy walked over to her.

"Your eyes shine, even in this dark light," the guy said, his words sounding like poetry to Lissa's ears.

"Do you want to go out and talk. It's rather dark in here," Lissa offered her hand and the guy took it.

"How rude of me, my name is Gene," the guys said as he raised her hand to his lips and kissed it.

"Gene, you're cold," Lissa commented.

"Gene just grinned, "Why don't you come and warm me up?" Lissa giggled as the two walked out.

Unbeknownst to the happy couple, two pairs of eyes watched as they exited.

As the two walked towards the entrance, Casey disentangles herself from her current dancing partner and went after them. She had never seen the guy before so that only increased the danger warning on her internal danger meter.

As the couple walked outside, Lissa felt Gene's grin on her hand tightened as he pulled her into the alley. She gulped, she had heard of crimes like this. The criminals lured the victims into an alley, raped and then killed the person. This did not look good.

"You're so pretty, so pretty," Gene breathed into her ear and then onto her neck.

"Let go of her!" Casey shouted from the front of the alley. Running towards the pair, she held a stake in the air.

Gene threw Lissa to the side and went for Casey instead. Unsteady on her own two feet in the small space, Casey somehow managed to avoid the demon, but in the process lost her stake. Tripping, she fell into a pile of boxes, landing on her back, the breath knocked out of her. Gene stood over her, gloating about how he was going to bag two for the price of one. Suddenly a look of pure horror came across his face before he exploded into a pile of dust.

"I think you dropped this," a guy stood over her, Latin, with dark hair cropped short. His leather duster was long, and brushed his kneecaps, it was dirty with dust and grime.

"Thanks," Casey said as he stood up.

"You might want to take a look at your friend, she looks pretty shook up," he smiled as he walked to the front of the alley.

"Wait, who are you!" Casey called after him.

"Charlie, I'm a friend. I'll be around," he called back, and he was gone.

Casey then remembered about Lissa, shaking the thoughts about the strange guy, she hurried towards her friend.

"What, what happened?" Lissa asked as she looked up at her friend.

Casey looked at her darkly, "You just entered my world.

* * *

Authors Note 2: I know, it's slightly dragging, but look forward to what's coming up next, lots of teenager angsty goodness!


	10. Walking Down the Street

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. I may not even own the plot which may be owned by Ivorycat (read her stories, they're good!). She also may be writing for this, so look out for her input. Joss, the insane god he is, owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine.

****

Attention: Look, there will be talk of, if not seen, cases of child abuse from Holtz. This happens because in my time line, Holtz took much of his anger out on Casey, and some out on Connor. But Connor was the favorite child of the two. More about that later. There also may be instance of corporal punishment. I would like to inform people that child abuse and corporal punishment are two different things. Corporal punishment will only happen when there is need for it to happen, and it will always be done in a loving environment.

Author's Note: I am going to try and put my teenage characters though what normal teenagers go through. That may be bad grades, idiot teachers, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, and that such. Some may be embellished a little, but guess what? If they are, that's because I have yet to experience them in my high school. Now don't say that I make this some kind of soap opera, because quite frankly, life is one.

Summery: Claire and Connor have a heart to heart

* * *

Chapter Ten: Walking Down the Street

As Claire and Connor walked down the street, they talked, well, it was mostly Claire who was talking, but Connor put his two cents in sometimes. 

"So, do you need to stop off at home to get something?" Claire asked him.

Connor looked at the teenage girl like she was crazy, "And risk my life? Heh, I'd rather go to K-Mart and get clothes. Actually, I'd rather go jump into a lion's den then go home."

Claire laughed at him, "You know, if you acted this way at school, you'd be the new hottie."

Connor raised an eyebrow "And I would want to be why?" he asked her.

Claire shrugged and dragged him into the nearest Wal*Mart. "If you want clothes, I'm going to shop for you," she told him as he tried hold back. Finally he just gave up and let her drag him along.

Thirty minutes later Connor walked out of the story with two pairs of pants, three shirts and a package of underwear. And Claire paid for it all, even though Connor protested at that.

As they walked out, Connor looked at his feet; "Thanks," he scuffed his feet on the sidewalk.

Claire giggled at that and reached up to mess up his hair, the only thing was, she was a bit to shot and Connor had to lean down to let her achieve what she wanted to do. "You're so cute!" Claire gushed.

Connor blushed, but didn't answer. He was embarrassed, he was brought up to be a killer, set on doing one thing, and everyone knew how that went.

"You are really adorable. You need associate with girls. You'd be the hottest boy in the school!" Claire advised.

Connor looked at her, "I really don't think that would be good," he gave a small grin and continued to walk down the street.

"Connor! Stop, my house is right here!" Claire called after him.

"_This_ is your house?" Connor asked his friend as his mouth hung open.

Claire shrugged, "My dad's job pays for it." She didn't say anything more as she walked up to the door, Connor following. 

* * *

Author's Note 2: Look, I know it's short, but it's early in the morning and I need to finish my homework before I go out to the bus, so this is like a teaser, so enjoy and review. And I'll put up more later, okay?


	11. Basic Ways to Kill a Vampire Without Bre...

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. I may not even own the plot which may be owned by Ivorycat (read her stories, they're good!). She also may be writing for this, so look out for her input. Joss, the insane god he is, owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine.

****

Attention: Look, there will be talk of, if not seen, cases of child abuse from Holtz. This happens because in my time line, Holtz took much of his anger out on Casey, and some out on Connor. But Connor was the favorite child of the two. More about that later. There also may be instance of corporal punishment. I would like to inform people that child abuse and corporal punishment are two different things. Corporal punishment will only happen when there is need for it to happen, and it will always be done in a loving environment.

Author's Note: I am going to try and put my teenage characters though what normal teenagers go through. That may be bad grades, idiot teachers, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, and that such. Some may be embellished a little, but guess what? If they are, that's because I have yet to experience them in my high school. Now don't say that I make this some kind of soap opera, because quite frankly, life is one.

Summery: Two friends have talk about functional families.

* * *

Chapter Eleven: Basic Ways to Kill a Vampire Without Breaking a Nail

Two girls sat in an alley, on shaking uncontrollably while the other tried to comfort her. "What's going on," Lissa asked her friend. "What do you mean, 'Welcome to my world'?"

Casey looked at her friend. "What you just experienced, well, there are people who've grown up around that. Me for instance."

Lissa shook her head; "You're crazy."

Casey raised an eyebrow, "And you're in shock. Look, we'll go to your house and go to bed. I'll explain everything tomorrow okay?" she rubbed Lissa's back as she helped her friend up.

Lissa nodded. 

"And don't tell anyone about this, got it?" Casey warned.

"And who would believe me?" Lissa retorted.

The next morning Casey awoke to a pale dawn. Yawning, she got up from her friend's couch and padded downstairs. She had been in the house so many times; it was a second home. Figuring someone would still be up; Casey called. Making up another excuse, she said that Lissa had gone through a rough time the night before, not exactly far from the truth, but Daddy dearest didn't need to know that she tried to take on a vampire herself.

Cordelia was the one who picked up, and than bought the story. Casey bid good-bye and headed back upstairs so she could go talk to her best friend. Maybe now she'd be a little bit more understanding with some rest.

And that's how Lissa woke up, with Casey staring at her.

"Okay, let me guess, what happened last night wasn't a dream?" Lissa said as she sat up in her bed.

Casey shook her head, "I wish it was, I wish it was. All the things that go bump in the night, well they're real, and then some. Of course, I really shouldn't be talking…" Casey sighed.

Lissa looked on, "How do you know so much?"

Casey folded her feet under her thighs. "Where do you want to start? The part were I'm created out of nothingness? The part where I come from another dimension? Or the part where I found out that my brother dumped my father in the ocean for three months?"

Lissa's mouth hung open, "What the hell?"

Casey sighed, "To make a long story short, my brother was born here in LA. Then was kidnapped and brought to some freaky dimension, and since he was so small, he was split up into two beings, that's where I come in. Well my brother creates a rip in dimensions and I follow. And my brother and myself were brought up on all these lies, well old feelings die hard, and Connor sent my dad into the ocean for the summer."

Lissa stared in shock for a moment, "And here I thought my family was dysfunctional."

"You don't know the half of it. But now that you know what goes up in my life, do you want to know how to protect yourself from some of the baddies that figure you're a happy meal on legs?" Casey asked, her legs sliding in front of her, tired of being folded under.

Lissa shrugged, "What do I have to lose, oh wait, my life."

Casey rolled her eyes as she stood up and went to he bag, pulling out a stake. When Lissa raised an eyebrow, Casey flicked her off, a reflex she had picked up in school and used mostly towards Connor. They then began to go over the basic ways to kill a vampire without breaking a nail.

* * *

Author Note 2: Okay people, I know, dragging, and dragging. But guess what? It's about 2 or 3 chapters before the big *smack smack* as Ivorycat so eloquently put it in her fic. But guess what, I like the story line. Then of course, there are a few more twists and turns after this part. Such as Charlie, Spike, and Spells. That enough of a teaser for you? Well if you want to know more, review, or ha! you will not know what will go on, cause I will not give spoilers if there are not a lot of reviews. I hope you all get this hint. By now!


	12. Little Fae

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. I may not even own the plot which may be owned by Ivorycat (read her stories, they're good!). She also may be writing for this, so look out for her input. Joss, the insane god he is, owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine.

****

Attention: Look, there will be talk of, if not seen, cases of child abuse from Holtz. This happens because in my time line, Holtz took much of his anger out on Casey, and some out on Connor. But Connor was the favorite child of the two. More about that later. There also may be instance of corporal punishment. I would like to inform people that child abuse and corporal punishment are two different things. Corporal punishment will only happen when there is need for it to happen, and it will always be done in a loving environment.

Author's Note: I am going to try and put my teenage characters though what normal teenagers go through. That may be bad grades, idiot teachers, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, and that such. Some may be embellished a little, but guess what? If they are, that's because I have yet to experience them in my high school. Now don't say that I make this some kind of soap opera, because quite frankly, life is one.

Summery: A meeting on the street leaves only more questions to be answered.

* * *

Chapter Twelve: Little Fae

Connor awoke on Saturday morning, groggy and unsure of where he was. That's right, he was at Claire's house, and dear god, was her house big! It was even bigger then the Hyperion.

Rolling out of the bed that had been lent to him, he went into the bathroom that was attached and tried to make him look somewhat presentable. After all, Claire had been this nice, why should he look like a slob in the morning like he usually did? After all, at home, no one ever important was around.

When he came out of the room, Claire was just leaving her's, still clad in pj's. Connor blushed when he saw her and Claire laughed. "You are so adorable!" she cooed, making Connor blush even more.

"Well, thanks for the stay, but I should go. I've got places to go, and people to see," Connor sighed as they walked down the stairs.

"Like where?" Claire asked, her hands on her hips, reminding him a bit like Cordelia, but suddenly, Claire looked a lot more attractive then Cordelia ever did.

"Nowhere, I guess," Connor shrugged as Claire beamed.

"Good boy!" she praised as she flounced down the stair well, Connor following after her.

They spent the day together, and for once, Connor enjoyed himself like an ordinary teenager his age. They walked around and enjoyed one another's company. But by the time the sun was setting, Connor was getting restless. He knew what came out at night. They were walking toward Claire's house when they bumped into someone on the street.

"Sorry," Connor said gruffly before Claire burst out into shrieks of happiness.

"Charlie, you're back in town!" she said before she threw herself into the guy's arms.

"Aye my little Fae." (_Pronounced Fay_) Charlie laughed. Connor felt jealousy rise in his throat, but he kept quiet. Charlie then turned towards Connor, "Don't worry Little Warrior, Fae is not my romantic interest." Charlie's eyes sparkled with inner laugher.

"Well who are you interested in?" Claire reproached, always interested in gossip.

"Someone who's rather brave but foolhardy," Charlie looked at Connor for a second and then turned his attention back towards Claire. "Will, will be coming to town in the next week or so. He had to take care of business."

Claire clapped her hands in excitement, "Ooh, Daddy will be so happy! You have to call, okay?" she asked, giving Charlie innocent puppy dog eyes.

"I promise my little Fae. Now you two should be getting back to your house. There's a present waiting for you!" Charlie's eyes twinkled before he turned, his leather duster swinging around his knees, and left.

Claire then looked toward Connor. "It's getting dark, we better go home," she told him, and he couldn't agree more.

* * *

Author's Note 2: Okay, I know you all are waiting for the great big confrontation, but I'm not good at that. I never said I was. But I'll try, promise, you just have to wait another chapter or two. And I know these chapters are short, but it moves the story along quicker. Mainly the chapters are short because a certain person who will remain nameless *_cough_Ivorycat_cough_* keeps telling me to update. So I do. But this story is going to have a rather good path, even if it is a long one. Review please! The more reviews, the quicker this comes out, and the quicker more chapters do, although everything is usually posted in within a day, sometimes I'm nice and I post two chapters a day, sometimes.


	13. Actions

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. I may not even own the plot which may be owned by Ivorycat (read her stories, they're good!). She also may be writing for this, so look out for her input. Joss, the insane god he is, owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine.

****

Attention: Look, there will be talk of, if not seen, cases of child abuse from Holtz. This happens because in my time line, Holtz took much of his anger out on Casey, and some out on Connor. But Connor was the favorite child of the two. More about that later. There also may be instance of corporal punishment. I would like to inform people that child abuse and corporal punishment are two different things. Corporal punishment will only happen when there is need for it to happen, and it will always be done in a loving environment.

Author's Note: I am going to try and put my teenage characters though what normal teenagers go through. That may be bad grades, idiot teachers, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, and that such. Some may be embellished a little, but guess what? If they are, that's because I have yet to experience them in my high school. Now don't say that I make this some kind of soap opera, because quite frankly, life is one.

Summery: Actions have consequences, either good or bad, you're going to have to face them.

* * *

Chapter Thirteen: Actions

Casey walked into school in a daze; she still couldn't get that guy Charlie out if her head. She and Lissa had spent the both Saturday and Sunday exploring the demon world. Many times when they came across chat rooms and message boards devoted to the 'Dark Avenger of the City of Angels' Casey would burst out laughing. Lissa always gave her strange looks, but stayed silent. But Lissa could sense Casey was off, even if it was by the tiniest bit. She stayed wisely silent though.

But Lissa did speak up once Casey walked into a pole as they walked into school. "Girl, you need to get over the mystery of Charlie."

"But," Casey tried to put up a front and sighed in defeat, "You're right. I'll never see the guy again, so I better forget about him.

Lissa smiled at her friend and they walked towards the school. Casey really did need to wake up. She shouldn't have been worrying about the guy that saved them a couple nights before, although that was a plus, she should be worrying about what her father was going to say when he saw the tongue ring.

"Hey, there's Connor!" Casey pointed her brother out to her friend. "Look, I need to see if he went home yet. You coming?" 

Lissa nodded and followed her best friend to where Connor was standing with Claire.

"Hi!" Claire greeted as she played with a metal charm that was a faery that was around her neck. Lissa nodded hello as Casey ignored the friendly greeting.

"Have you gone home yet?" Casey directed her question to her brother.

Connor raised an eyebrow, "I'd rather be in hell, and it looks like you haven't either," he smirked.

Casey narrowed her eyes. "Go fuck yourself. And if you don't watch it, I'll call Daddy and tell him they you're in school and that he should come and get you."

Connor's eyes narrowed as well. "And I tell about Mrs. Connelly's class."

"Ugh," Casey had run out of threats, "Just go fuck yourself," she finished lamely.

Connor smirked and turned to Claire, who was frowning. "Apologize," she commanded.

"But, but," he stuttered, she just glared.

"I'm sorry," Connor said, scuffing his foot.

Casey just rolled her eyes, but a sharp jab in the stomach from Lissa made her remember her manners, "You're forgiven," she said sullenly.

"Now that we're not at each other's throats, I suggest we get to class. The warning bell just rang," Claire smiled before she dragged Connor off to his math class. They didn't have the same class, but the classes were right next to each other, and if she didn't do it, he would never get to class.

By the end of the day, Connor felt like he was about to collapse. All his books were at the hotel, so that sort of made him an easy target for his teachers. Thank god at least three of them said they would take it the next day, even if it was for half credit. The other two could rot in hell for all he cared.

As he walked to his locker he heard the customary list of names over the PA system, when he heard his, he cursed. Looks like Daddy dearest wanted him safe. Throwing what notebooks he had, he went to the office.

"Wesley," he acknowledged as he saw the Englishman.

Wesley made a little noise and the two went out to Wesley's car. Connor slid into the backseat as Wesley started the car. Connor tuned out the incessant drone of Wesley and focused on what was taking place outside of the car.

Connor sighed. Was he really going to sit there and listen to Wesley, or was he going to try something? Well knowing him, he was going to try something, and try something he did. Silently unlocking his door, he waited until the car slowed down at a stop sign. When the car slowed, he opened the door and slid out. Slamming the door behind him, he ran.

Connor ran and ran, not knowing where the hell he was going, until that is, he got there. Connor ended up running to Claire's. Sitting on the step, he waited for Claire to turn around the bend. When she saw him, she laughed.

"Is this becoming a daily thing now?" she asked as she unlocked the door.

"I guess so. I'm just staying until later on tonight. Let them cool off," Connor said as he sank into the leather couch that stood in the living room.

"Cool off from what?" Claire asked as she walked into the room, carrying two cokes.

"I sorta jumped ship. Or rather jumped car," Connor laughed weakly as Claire glared at him.

"You could have gotten killed!" she shrieked.

"Oops?" Connor gave her a goofy grin.

Claire smiled at him, "My god, you just give me that look and I melt. You're so easy to love."

Connor looked at her, surprised as Claire covered her mouth, "Oh my god, I admitted that?" she whispered mortified.

Connor smiled and leaned over and kissed her lips. It ended quickly and they both looked at each other, "Wow," they breathed at the same time.

Thirty minutes later Connor left, a kiss from Claire still tingling on his lips when he climbed up the fire escape to the roof of the hotel. He would wait the night up here. Or at least until Angel got the idea to check up there.

But down in the lobby, everything was in chaos. Casey had come home and someone had caught site of her tongue ring, the result? A twenty-minute verbal battle between Casey and Angel. It all ended when Angel took her by the arm and led her upstairs.

"What's going on!" Casey demanded as she was dumped over Angel's lap in a rather undignified pose.

"What do you think?" Angel asked gruffly as the skirt she wore went up and her underwear down.

"Wait, stop! I'm too old for this!" Casey shrieked as his hand came in contact.

Angel landed a few swats before he stopped for a second. "When I was your age, this was not uncommon, of course, spankings were just for errant children," he told her before he started again.

After about five swats of the second round, Casey started to sob. Slowing down, Angel gave her five more before he started to rub her back, and saying soothing words.

Helping her up, he raised her underwear like she was a child and gave her a hug.

"I'm going up to the roof to think. If you need to talk I'll be there, okay sweetie?" he asked softly, wiping an errant tear away.

Casey nodded, giving her father another hug.

Angel looked down at her daughter, touched by the simple touch of affection. Touching her shoulder lightly, Casey looked up. "If you had asked, I might have said yes," he smiled before he left, and then he was gone.

* * *

Author's Note 2: Okay there's your lovely scene. Of course, it's not Connor, that's next chapter. *grin* But guess what, Casey was a little bitch, I'll be the first one to admit it. Okay, so I have a question for you all. Why do you all feel bad for Casey? She's just like you, granted she grew up in a hell dimension, but guess what, she adjusted. Yeah, so that's about it for my ranting. Ta!


	14. I Belive I Can Fly

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. I may not even own the plot which may be owned by Ivorycat (read her stories, they're good!). She also may be writing for this, so look out for her input. Joss, the insane god he is, owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine.

****

Attention: Look, there will be talk of, if not seen, cases of child abuse from Holtz. This happens because in my time line, Holtz took much of his anger out on Casey, and some out on Connor. But Connor was the favorite child of the two. More about that later. There also may be instance of corporal punishment. I would like to inform people that child abuse and corporal punishment are two different things. Corporal punishment will only happen when there is need for it to happen, and it will always be done in a loving environment.

Author's Note: I am going to try and put my teenage characters though what normal teenagers go through. That may be bad grades, idiot teachers, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, and that such. Some may be embellished a little, but guess what? If they are, that's because I have yet to experience them in my high school. Now don't say that I make this some kind of soap opera, because quite frankly, life is one.

Summery: When Connor feels the urge, he can't resist.

* * *

Chapter Fourteen: I Believe I Can Fly

Connor crouched at the edge of the Hyperion's roof. The hotel was seven stories tall. Connor wondered if he would make it if he jumped, after all he could do a two-story jump. Well, maybe he should work his way up, who knew what could happen? But then again, when Connor had jumped from his window, he loved the feeling on flying that he got.

Although he was deep in thought, Connor's nose twitched and his ears perked. Someone was coming up the stairs, and by the sounds of the heavy footsteps, Connor doubted that it was Cordelia, Fred, or Casey. He tensed, the smell was sharp in the night air; it was Angel.

"Connor!" Angel called out, once he saw his son crouching at the edge of the roof. He started to run towards the teen.

Connor, surprised by the shout and the fact that Angel was running towards him, leaped from his perch. Angel reached out grabbed the back of his son's shirt. Drawing the teenager to his chest, Angel let out an unneeded sigh. "Connor," he breathed and held onto his son, as if, if he let go, the teen would disappear.

Turning Connor around so he could face his son, Angel bit back the immediate reaction to yell and beat the kids backside, Instead Angel just looked into Connor's eyes, "Why?" he asked quietly.

Connor averted his eyes, embarrassed. "I had to."

Angel lifted his son's chin, "And?" he asked.

"I didn't want to," Connor confessed, averting his eyes.

Angel sighed, and brought his son to his chest, "Sometimes in order to grow up you need to do things that you don't want to do."

In response, Connor buried his head into his father's shoulder, at the place where the shoulder and neck joined. And Connor sobbed, letting his emotions pour out, Angel not knowing what to say, just rubbed the teen's back.

Finally Angel thought he had to speak up, "Where do you want it? Up here or down in your room?"

Connor gave him a watery smile, "I was thinking never."

Angel chuckled, but gave his son a serious look, "Not a choice buddy boy."

Connor sighed, and gave his father an guilty look, tying to wear him down just a little bit more, "Down there I guess," he gave his father one last dejected look before trudging down to his room, Angel following.

Once Angel walked into his son's room, he closed the door with a sharp click, making Connor wince just a little bit. Angel sat on the bed and motioned for his son to come closer. "You do know why I'm doing this, right?" Angel asked as Connor was put over Angel's knee.

"Yes," Connor's reply was a bit muffled. He rattled them off as Angel lowered his son's jeans and underwear. The first blow came; Connor winced as it started to sting. He sighed, he got himself into the mess, and this would get him out of it. Besides, he could take it like a man.

After a couple more slaps, Connor's ass was stinging and Connor started to wriggle and kick. Angel just stopped for a moment so Connor could control himself. Finally Connor was reduced to tears, that's when Angel sensed he had, had enough.

Standing Connor up, Angel pulled his son's underwear and jeans. Wincing as they came up, Connor reached out and hung onto his father for dear life. Angel smiled as he stroked his son's hair softly, murmuring a lullaby he had heard when he was little.

* * *

Okay, not very big, but you got your chapter. But guess what! I have whole 2 new mini stories for this. And I'm calling all people who would like to help me on the next part. Just leave a review, and I'll get back to you. I'll tell you this; it has to do with a talent show. Ta! And if I don't have a total of 45 reviews, well it will be a long time coming before the next chapter is up.


	15. Plans

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. I may not even own the plot which may be owned by Ivorycat (read her stories, they're good!). She also may be writing for this, so look out for her input. Joss, the insane god he is, owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine.

****

Attention: Look, there will be talk of, if not seen, cases of child abuse from Holtz. This happens because in my time line, Holtz took much of his anger out on Casey, and some out on Connor. But Connor was the favorite child of the two. More about that later. There also may be instance of corporal punishment. I would like to inform people that child abuse and corporal punishment are two different things. Corporal punishment will only happen when there is need for it to happen, and it will always be done in a loving environment.

Author's Note: I am going to try and put my teenage characters though what normal teenagers go through. That may be bad grades, idiot teachers, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, and that such. Some may be embellished a little, but guess what? If they are, that's because I have yet to experience them in my high school. Now don't say that I make this some kind of soap opera, because quite frankly, life is one.

Summery: When Connor's questioned, Casey fights back.

* * *

Chapter Fifteen: Plans

Connor walked into the principal's office, happy to escape the horrors of math class. True, he was happy to have an excuse for not being in class, but he could think of multitudes of places he would rather be.

"Ah, Mr. Angel," Mr. Falkner, walked into the office. He was a balding Irish man who ruled over the school with an iron hand.

"Mr. Falkner," Connor said diplomatically.

"How have you been settling in LA? Your record shows that you were home school up to the time you moved to the area," the man asked as he settled into his plush leather chair.

"It's been interesting," that was all that Connor offered.

"Well, we've notice here at Central that you have been-- shall I say, anti-social?" Mr. Falkner leaned toward the teenage boy, "and we're worried, anti-socialness along with low grades usually indicate that something is wrong. Do you follow?"

Connor nodded, "I do."

"Well would you mind if we asked to you to take a drug test?" the principal asked.

"Of course not," Connor told him, Mr. Falkner beamed, "But you have to ask my dad first."

"Well then, I'll call your father and you can just come back at the end of the lunch period," Mr. Falkner quickly wrote out and signed a pass and Connor hurried back to his math class, happy to get out of that office.

By the time lunch rolled around, Connor was angry that he had been asked to take a drug test, and he expressed that anger when he sat down to lunch.

The lunch group had expanded to Kevin, an artist that had a tendency to either skip any class that was not taking place in the art wing or start large debates in any class. There was also Seth, the thespian who was enamored with Shakespeare. He's dream was also to become Nicole Kidman's bitch.

"You know, that's a bunch of bull. Everyone knows the serious potheads don't even bother to show up. Besides, what can Falkner do anyways?" Kevin asked in his usual brash manner.

"It's called our father," Casey shuddered.

"How bad could you're old man be?" Seth asked as he took a bite of his sandwich.

Casey and Connor looked at each other. "When our dad was younger, he wasn't a very nice person. People were scared of him. And he controls our social life," Casey sniffed as she took a sip of her water bottle.

"Harsh," Lissa said as she stole a chip from Casey's bag.

"Well that's besides the point. Someone should really wake Mr. Falkner up. I mean, he always goes after people he says are trouble makers, but aren't," Claire said as she took a bite of her banana.

Casey smiled, "Claire, you just gave me an idea. Thanks!"

Connor looked at the ceiling as he sighed, "Whatever you do, make sure it doesn't involve me. Dad will probably already be pissed off as it is. What with me getting tested, we really don't need chaos."

Casey rolled her eyes, "That's where you're wrong brother dearest, chaos is always welcome. Now go take you're little test and leave it to me to work everything out."

As Connor was leaving the cafeteria, he stopped his sister; "I don't trust you. But if this gets him back, I don't care. Just be careful. Dad may have a soul, but he ain't exactly the most forgiving.

Casey gave him a sharp look; "Don't you think I know that? Besides, he's not going to find out. It's the perfect plan. Besides, I'm going to get Falkner's permission. I'm doing nothing wrong."

Connor shrugged, "For your sake, I hope so. But I have to go. I have a date with my destiny."

Casey bid good-bye to her brother as she headed off to her Latin class. Connor just shuffled off to the main office. He knew he didn't take drugs, but he really didn't want to be suspected. What kid would? 

"Ah Mr. Angel," Mr. Falkner met Connor in the hallway.

"Mr. Falkner," Connor greeted sullenly.

"You're father gave permission and will you please come this way?" Mr. Falkner led Connor to the health office.

The nurse handed Connor a cup and he went into the bathroom. After doing his business he handed the cup back to the nurse who wrote him a pass. Mr. Falkner was already gone.

Mr. Falkner whistled slightly as he walked though the hallways. Mr. Angel, the teen's father, had been surprised when he called, but gave his permission quickly. This always made his job easier. Walking into his office, he was surprised to find Casey, Connor's twin sister, sitting there.

"Miss Angel?" the principal asked.

"I'm sorry to bother you sir," Casey gave him an innocent look, "But I had something urgent to ask you. And since I have a free in Latin today, I thought I should ask when I had the chance."

Mr. Falkner sighed as he rubbed his face. Sitting down he looked at the teenage girl, "What is it?" he asked gruffly.

* * *

Author's Note 2: Okay, cliffy, I know. But it's good, promise! And Spike and Charlie will becoming in soon. Promise. And you'll get more smoochies and fluffy later on. And Connor and Casey? They'll be acting chummy. They just need to get over something…you would to if you were in a hell dimension. But anywho, I would like to have a total of 50 reviews before I post another chapter. I really enjoy writing this, but reviews help to. And a special thanks to gigetgirl and Ivorycat. You two rock, and keep writing, hear me! I love the ideas you gave me, and anyone else is welcome to do the same. I'm always looking for new ideas.


	16. Permission

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. I may not even own the plot which may be owned by Ivorycat (read her stories, they're good!). She also may be writing for this, so look out for her input. Joss, the insane god he is, owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine.

****

Attention: Look, there will be talk of, if not seen, cases of child abuse from Holtz. This happens because in my time line, Holtz took much of his anger out on Casey, and some out on Connor. But Connor was the favorite child of the two. More about that later. There also may be instance of corporal punishment. I would like to inform people that child abuse and corporal punishment are two different things. Corporal punishment will only happen when there is need for it to happen, and it will always be done in a loving environment.

Author's Note: I am going to try and put my teenage characters though what normal teenagers go through. That may be bad grades, idiot teachers, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, and that such. Some may be embellished a little, but guess what? If they are, that's because I have yet to experience them in my high school. Now don't say that I make this some kind of soap opera, because quite frankly, life is one.

Summery: The permission is given, now for it to be started.

Chapter Sixteen: Permission

Casey gave her school's principal an innocent look, but it didn't reach her eyes. Her eyes were mischievous. "Well I was thinking about the annual talent show and how no one shows up. It's just a waste of money. But I figured out a way that we can peak interest and raise money for the school. Without the school having to spend a cent," she gave another smile.

"Go on," Mr. Falkner's instructed.

"Well, if it's student run, you wouldn't have to pay teachers over time. And if the student's are running it, you don't need to use school supplies," she reasoned.

"And who would be in charge of this?" he asked the teen.

She just shrugged off handedly; "I would."

"Okay." Mr. Falkner drew out the monosyllable word.

"So do I have your permission?" Casey asked hopefully, her blue eyes large with faked innocence.

"Of course Ms. Angel. Now get back to class," Mr. Falkner sighed and went to do some paper work as Casey flounce out of the office.

Casey grinned as she walked down the halls. Spotting Seth she jogged up to his locker where he was currently trying to take a nap. Crouching down, Casey started to poke her friend, who just slapped her hands away in annoyance. "Go 'way," he mumbled, leaning his head against the orange metal lockers.

"Seth get up. It's important," Casey sighed, not wanting to put up with any games he might want to play.

"What the hell do you want. I was having a rather nice dream…" Seth started, but Casey cut him off.

"I don't want to hear it. Look; get your friends, a person from as many different groups as possible. And if you see Claire, Connor, Kevin, or Lissa, tell them to do the same. We're raging war against Falkner." Casey whispered the last part before she stood up, dusted her skirt off and headed to the Starbucks across the street from the school; she needed something with caffeine. 

* * *

Author's Note 2: I know I'm holding everything off. But guess what. Shorter chapters, more updates. Be happy, don't worry. But anywho, I promise Spike will becoming soon, as will Charlie. I just need to get to a good time. And more fluffy Connor-Casey will be coming soon, but again, I just need to find a good place for it. And the talent show will be interesting…I'll tell you guys that much. The big question is, Can Casey pull it off without getting in trouble? And thanks for all the reviews, I love them! But I won't be posting until I get at least 55 or more reviews. Cause that's the way I like it….


	17. Gathering the Troops

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. I may not even own the plot which may be owned by Ivorycat (read her stories, they're good!). She also may be writing for this, so look out for her input. Joss, the insane god he is, owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine.

****

Attention: Look, there will be talk of, if not seen, cases of child abuse from Holtz. This happens because in my time line, Holtz took much of his anger out on Casey, and some out on Connor. But Connor was the favorite child of the two. More about that later. There also may be instance of corporal punishment. I would like to inform people that child abuse and corporal punishment are two different things. Corporal punishment will only happen when there is need for it to happen, and it will always be done in a loving environment.

Author's Note: I am going to try and put my teenage characters though what normal teenagers go through. That may be bad grades, idiot teachers, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, and that such. Some may be embellished a little, but guess what? If they are, that's because I have yet to experience them in my high school. Now don't say that I make this some kind of soap opera, because quite frankly, life is one.

Summery: The plans are started.

* * *

Chapter Seventeen: Gathering the Troops

Casey sat on the stage, legs swinging back and forth as about fifteen people sat in front of her. "Why are we here?" a burly wrestler, named Mitch, asked. He was sitting with the fellow jocks, and for once look severely out of place.

When everyone heard the quested, a murmur started up, eventually creating a rather loud noise. Casey tried to yell, to get people's attention, but it didn't seem to work. Shooting a glance to her brother, Connor nodded and stood up. He let out a war cry that had everybody look at him.

"Thanks," Casey flashed a smile his way before getting down to business. "Okay, I got people to get you here because we all have one common enemy, and that's Falkner. Now what's the best way to get back at him? To embarrass him. Now I've set it up that we can do it. And I have permission. His to be exact." She sighed as another murmur went up.

"And what to get for it?" the same wrestler asked this question.

Casey sighed and looked at the people, "I didn't think I had to make some motivational speech, so I wont. But we can pull this little stunt off without getting in trouble. We all hate Falkner. I mean, he makes kids who have no reason to be involved in drugs take drug tests. Targets the jocks, and don't think I don't notice. We have a comment enemy, and I think we should fight."

"So what do we have to do exactly?" Ashley, one of the more shy people asked from the second row.

Casey sighed as she popped a mint into her mouth. "We take over the talent show. We present it as one, but it totally goes in a different direction."

"Like what?" Ashley challenged.

"We talk about what's really on our minds. Drugs sex, whatever we want. We may add a little show like thing to it. But it will be us, and nothing else. So what do you guys say? Yes or no?" Casey looked at the people who sat in front of her.

"I'll do it," Seth shrugged and walked over the Casey. Connor, Claire, Kevin, and Lissa followed. A murmur went up as people saw this and one by one people stood up and walked towards the stage.

"So, how do we set this up?" Mitch asked.

Casey grinned, "Well here's the plan. We get a couple acts, all having to do with problems we face today. Like a skit, dance routine, piano recital, whatever. But it's all going to be produced by us. Its called creative liberty."

Mitch looked at his friends, guess he became the unofficial leader of that pack. They nodded to him and he turned to Casey, "We're in."

"So are we," Kara, the head cheerleader said.

Casey looked to Kevin who looked to the artists. They nodded, "They're in," Kevin announced.

"Let's show him what we got," one of the actors said, Seth just smiled in satisfaction.

One by one, people said they would join and by the time three o'clock came around, people were leaving, save for a small bunch. The only people that were left where Connor, Casey, Claire, Kevin, Mitch, and Ashley. The six looked at each other before Mitch opened his big mouth. "How are we going to pull it off?" he asked Casey who just crossed her legs and looked at him square in the eye.

"Because the six of us are going to head it," she snapped back.

Connor looked at his sister in horror, "Me? Since when was I dragged into this?"

Casey just flipped him off, "Since now. So who wants pizza?"

* * *

Author's Note 2: Okay, it's started. And I thank everyone who is reviewing, I love it! Special thanks to gidgetgirl and Ivorycat. I love your reviews, along with Lian. Oh and gidgetgirl, expect a twist in the story with your ideas. You will like it. Promise. Just make sure I have 60 or more reviews everyone, or else I will not post. Next chapter? Well Charlie's here again!


	18. Getting to Know You

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. I may not even own the plot, which may be owned by Ivorycat (read her stories, they're good!). She also may be writing for this, so look out for her input. Joss, the insane god he is, owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine.

****

Attention: Look, there will be talk of, if not seen, cases of child abuse from Holtz. This happens because in my time line, Holtz took much of his anger out on Casey, and some out on Connor. But Connor was the favorite child of the two. More about that later. There also may be instance of corporal punishment. I would like to inform people that child abuse and corporal punishment are two different things. Corporal punishment will only happen when there is need for it to happen, and it will always be done in a loving environment.

Author's Note: I am going to try and put my teenage characters though what normal teenagers go through. That may be bad grades, idiot teachers, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, and that such. Some may be embellished a little, but guess what? If they are, that's because I have yet to experience them in my high school. Now don't say that I make this some kind of soap opera, because quite frankly, life is one.

Summery: One is to meet both Will and Charlie

* * *

Chapter Eighteen: Getting to know You

Smoke billowed out into the street as a man walked, more like stumbled, out of a bar. Another followed him. The first was drunk, there was no doubt about it, and the second was not.

"Will, hold up!" the second one cried as the first stumbled along on the street.

"But she left me Chuck, she left me," the second wailed as he halted. "She called me a monster. Even thought I helped her. I didn't have to help the Slayer, but I did. And she just threw it in my face!" he stopped ranting after a second and then continued to walk down the street.

Charlie ran after him. "Don't call me Chuck," he said with a smile on his face, Will wouldn't listen, and Charlie knew that. "No one has since Mama died, well, except you. Now why don't you give me your keys and I'll get us to your place where you can get some blood and sober up."

Will grinned, "But you bloody well know I'm a much better person while drunk."

Charlie rolled his eyes, "It's hard to explain why my mama stayed with you and Lady. But she did…and you better well listen to me, because I'm the best you got," he grinned as he plucked the keys from his older friend's pocket and dragged him to the parked car.

Thirty minutes later Spike was sprawled out on his bed, nursing a mug of blood while Charlie was on the phone.

Mr. Jameson had called earlier, his message was on the answering machine, so knowing that Will would never get around to answering it, Will intervened.

Charlie found out that Mr. Jameson needed two guys, which would now be Will and himself, to model for a runway thing. So Charlie signed himself and Will up, knowing full well that Will would not like it.

But he'd get over it; he had to pay the bills sometime.

"Boy!" Will called from the bedroom.

Charlie smiled, if it had been anyone else to dare call him that, most likely he would punch him in the jaw. But with Will, it was a term of endearment, he'd put up with it.

Will called again, and Charlie hung up the phone and went to see what the all the yelling was about.

* * *

Author's Note 2: Okay, I know somewhat short chapter. Bite me. It's a nice little thing I gave you because I'm in school and bored, and I missed a day of updating, and I owed you Charlie and Will. So here you are. Oh and go read my Christmas story entitled, A Very Scooby Christmas. It's cute I promise. Could I please have like 65 reviews…please?


	19. Who Can You Live With?

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. I may not even own the plot which may be owned by Ivorycat (read her stories, they're good!). She also may be writing for this, so look out for her input. Joss, the insane god he is, owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine.

****

Attention: Look, there will be talk of, if not seen, cases of child abuse from Holtz. This happens because in my time line, Holtz took much of his anger out on Casey, and some out on Connor. But Connor was the favorite child of the two. More about that later. There also may be instance of corporal punishment. I would like to inform people that child abuse and corporal punishment are two different things. Corporal punishment will only happen when there is need for it to happen, and it will always be done in a loving environment.

Author's Note: I am going to try and put my teenage characters though what normal teenagers go through. That may be bad grades, idiot teachers, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, and that such. Some may be embellished a little, but guess what? If they are, that's because I have yet to experience them in my high school. Now don't say that I make this some kind of soap opera, because quite frankly, life is one.

Summery: Bunch o' friendly hanging out time.

* * *

Chapter Nineteen: Who Can You Live With?

"So how many acts do you want?" Mitch asked once he took another bite of pizza and swallowed it.

"Um, as many as it takes. I was thinking a dance routine, skit, and anything else people want," Casey shrugged as she took a small bite of her pizza.

"I can write, if that's anything," Ashley shrugged as she just sipped her soda.

"That's better than some of us here. Including myself," Casey remarked dryly as she pushed her plate away, it still contained a half-eaten slice of pizza, which Connor grabbed. Casey looked at him, "You pig," she teased him; he just stuck out his tongue in response.

"Okay, let's cut the sibling rivalry down to a minimum, okay?" Kevin intervened.

"Actually, it's rather endearing," Claire remarked as she went for Connor's leftover crusts.

"You would think that," Kevin remarked. "We all see the fluffy eyes you make."

"Fluffy eyes?" Mitch asked, eyebrow raised.

"My sister's in kindergarten, you pick it up after awhile," Kevin snapped.

"Shut it," Ashley told the artist. She was sitting between the two and did not want to get involved.

"Back on the main topic, did you have any type of skit in mind?" Casey asked Ashley.

Ashley nodded, "Well not exactly a type of skit, but a way to put it on."

"Ooh, tell me!" Casey became interested.

"Well it's the same scene, but once just happening and twice with people's views Get it?" Ashley cocked her head.

Claire looked at Ashley, "That's really unique. I can't wait to see how it turns out."

Ashley blushed at the complement. "Thanks," she whispered, embarrassed.

Everyone sat back and talked as the time passed. 

"Excuse me, are you all done?" at waitress asked when the place started to fill up.

Everyone looked at their watches, or other people's watches as was the case of Casey grabbing Connor's arm.

"Watch it will ya?" Connor said as his arm was taken away from him.

"Bite me, wait on second thought, don't. Kiss my ass. I'm pretty safe with that one, right?" Casey asked her brother as his arm was returned to him.

"Quite. Now am I paying for you?" Connor asked as he pulled out his wallet.

Casey gave him a look that just screamed 'duh' and went back to gossiping with Claire.

Mitch gave Connor a knowing look as they walked up to the register, "Woman, can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em."

Connor shrugged, "Sometimes I'm not so sure. And I mean that in a nice way!" Connor yelled back to his sister who just flipped him off once again.

Connor turned to Mitch, "Correction, its sisters, not woman."

* * *

Author's Note 2: Well I'm almost to twenty chapters, can you believe it? Hehe, and the best parts aren't even up yet. Spells, talent shows, significant other problems. It's all in there. Well anywho, can I have like 70 reviews so I can post the next chapter, please? Pretty please?


	20. Life: Before and After

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. I may not even own the plot which may be owned by Ivorycat (read her stories, they're good!). She also may be writing for this, so look out for her input. Joss, the insane god he is, owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine.

****

Attention: Look, there will be talk of, if not seen, cases of child abuse from Holtz. This happens because in my time line, Holtz took much of his anger out on Casey, and some out on Connor. But Connor was the favorite child of the two. More about that later. There also may be instance of corporal punishment. I would like to inform people that child abuse and corporal punishment are two different things. Corporal punishment will only happen when there is need for it to happen, and it will always be done in a loving environment.

Author's Note: I am going to try and put my teenage characters though what normal teenagers go through. That may be bad grades, idiot teachers, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, and that such. Some may be embellished a little, but guess what? If they are, that's because I have yet to experience them in my high school. Now don't say that I make this some kind of soap opera, because quite frankly, life is one.

Summery: Getting ready for a night of boo's with some inner monologues.

* * *

Chapter Twenty: Life, Before and After

Connor looked at his sister as she put on her make up. "What's the point of this again?" he asked as he looked at her.

"It's Halloween. We are doing a fundraiser. Why aren't you dressed?" Casey turned to him and glared.

He shrunk back a bit, but he didn't loose his nerve. "I didn't feel like it. So?" he shrugged as she stalked up to him.

"Get dressed now! This thing is a fundraiser, I don't care how much you hate it, but you're going to have fun, got it?" she fumed as Connor just smirked at her.

"Who said I wasn't having fun? It's rather entertaining to watch you blow up," he gave her another smirk as his sister glared at him even more.

"Why you little!" she fumed as she pushed him out of her room.

"I'm getting dressed though," he called into her room once she closed the door on in his face.

"Argh!" was her only response.

Connor laughed at his sister's response. He loved getting a rise out of her; it was one of his life's simple pleasures. Not that life was simple anymore. It used to be if you saw a demon, you killed it. Demon's were evil and not of that world. Humans were the supreme race.

Of course, that was not the way Holtz had it. He had taught Connor; well it was really Stephen that some races of humans were below others. For instance Jews and Blacks. They were below White people and women were below men. Stephen never understood it, but accepted it. Connor on the other hand tossed the whole idea out the window.

Yeah Holtz was bigoted. No doubt about that. Who else would tell him that Casey was on no use? Look at her, she was wonderful, granted stuck up sometimes, but it wasn't like she was a waste of space. He loved her, even though she would grate his nerves and enjoy watching him get in trouble, but that's how siblings act. They pretend to hate one another, yet in times of need, you better not mess with them. All in all, Connor was happy they were in LA; one could be free here…really free.

Casey banged on the door, "Are you ready?" she asked.

Connor just sighed and told her to hold her horses, he would leave when he was ready, not before. As his twin stomped away, Connor looked for the clothes he was instructed to wear, black pants and a black silk shirt. Sighing, he pulled them on and looked in the mirror, and desperately wanted his old clothes. He looked like his father!

"You look marvelous!" Casey said from behind.

Whirling around, Connor glared at his sister, "Ever heard of knocking?" he snapped.

She shrugged, "It's not like you were naked. No come one, we need to get to the school so we can get everything set into place. We only have two hours."

"Didn't we just come from school?" Connor whined. It was true, someone had gotten the bright idea to do a fundraiser by doing a haunted house for Halloween. So amidst the planning of it, Connor had been stuck at school much more than he wanted to. Not to mention the fact that he had just left a little over 45 minutes ago. Now they would be going back, the horror.

"So, come on, we're going," Casey snapped and pulled her brother out of his room and out of the hotel.

"Sometimes I regret ever leaving Quor-Toth," Connor muttered under his breath as he was dragged along the street and to the school.

"But you love me!" Casey shot back, giving him a bright smile, which Connor returned. "Or at least you better!" Casey finished up, smirking.

"You're too much like Cordy for your own good," Connor muttered darkly.

* * *

Author's Note 2: Whee! Chapter 20! And it's not even the best part yet! Well yeah, would it be cool if I had like, 75 reviews before I posted the next chapter? Please? Next chapter though, it's Charlie and Spike so watch out. Oh, and do you have ideas? Send them in, I like them! And if any of you are interested, the authors, gidgetgirl, Lian, and Ivorycat, as well as myself, are going to be co writing a fic. Please watch out for it. It will be good, Connor centered. That's all I'm going to say, but make sure you check out their stories! Oh, and Congrats to gidgetgirl, you finished all your finals!


	21. Fundraising

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. I may not even own the plot which may be owned by Ivorycat (read her stories, they're good!). She also may be writing for this, so look out for her input. Joss, the insane god he is, owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine.

****

Attention: Look, there will be talk of, if not seen, cases of child abuse from Holtz. This happens because in my time line, Holtz took much of his anger out on Casey, and some out on Connor. But Connor was the favorite child of the two. More about that later. There also may be instance of corporal punishment. I would like to inform people that child abuse and corporal punishment are two different things. Corporal punishment will only happen when there is need for it to happen, and it will always be done in a loving environment.

Author's Note: I am going to try and put my teenage characters though what normal teenagers go through. That may be bad grades, idiot teachers, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, and that such. Some may be embellished a little, but guess what? If they are, that's because I have yet to experience them in my high school. Now don't say that I make this some kind of soap opera, because quite frankly, life is one.

Summery: How the idea comes about.

* * *

Chapter Twenty One: Fundraising

* One Month Before *

"We need a fundraiser. How else are we going to get everything we need?" Kara asked as she tapped a pen against a notebook, surprisingly, she was a very good businesswoman.

"Well what do you say we do? A bake sale is not going to cut it," Seth said, who was busy flicking little torn up pieces of loose-leaf paper at anyone. His current target was Connor.

"Stop it," Connor muttered once a scrap hit him under the eye. It was a welcomed distraction really; this meeting that Casey had dragged him too was making him fall asleep quicker than one of his father's lectures would.

"Gladly," Seth whispered and went on to flick pieces of paper at Casey.

"Well, this is the inner kid in me, but what about a haunted house? I mean, we would have like month to prepare and we don't have to think of a set date. And people will come, if we make it scary enough, besides it would be for a good cause," Ashley suggested.

"My god, that's genius!" Claire said and went to start planning it on a scrap piece of paper.

"Hold up, is it possible?" Casey intervened, dodging the paper Seth was flicking at her.

"Why not? We'll need a bunch of people for scene, but we can rummage them up. Besides I have a few good friends who would be interested. Also my dad can encourage a few people he knows to join," Claire offered.

"It's settled, we are doing a haunted house. There will be seven exhibit things and people periodically to jump out and scare people. That sound good?" Casey instantly took over, showing her inner CEO.

The next few weeks were spent doing everything they could getting the haunted house scenes built, but the hardest part was putting everything up in the gym, which took hours. Now it was time to go back.

* * *

Author's Note 2: I know it's short, very short, but the next chapter's cute. Promise lots of action with people. And then the chapter after that and so forth. Believe me, it will work. It's all good. And there will be Charlie-Casey goodness…maybe some Claire-Connor…who knows. And if anyone can guess what relationship Charlie/Will (Spike) have, you get a walk on role. Other contests include what Charlie is. And what Claire is. Hint, look in previous chapters.

*giggle* That enough for you? Please review, that way chapters will come out quicker.


	22. Setting Up

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. I may not even own the plot which may be owned by Ivorycat (read her stories, they're good!). She also may be writing for this, so look out for her input. Joss, the insane god he is, owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine.  
  
**Attention**: Look, there will be talk of, if not seen, cases of child abuse from Holtz. This happens because in my time line, Holtz took much of his anger out on Casey, and some out on Connor. But Connor was the favorite child of the two. More about that later. There also may be instance of corporal punishment. I would like to inform people that child abuse and corporal punishment are two different things. Corporal punishment will only happen when there is need for it to happen, and it will always be done in a loving environment.  
  
Author's Note: I am going to try and put my teenage characters though what normal teenagers go through. That may be bad grades, idiot teachers, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, and that such. Some may be embellished a little, but guess what? If they are, that's because I have yet to experience them in my high school. Now don't say that I make this some kind of soap opera, because quite frankly, life is one.  
  
Summery: The work starts.  


* * *

  
Chapter Twenty-Two: Setting Up  
  
"Come on!" Casey pulled her brother down the street.  
  
"We'll get there when we get there. Don't worry," Connor tried to stop, and walk on his own, but it was no use, he just let himself be dragged down the street.  
  
"We're here!" Casey announced when they entered the gym.  
  
"That's bloody wonderful, now why don't you make yourself useful and help us!" a voice came from behind a makeshift wall.  
  
"Go help the poor guy, I'm going to find Claire in this mess," Connor told his sister.  
  
"Claire isn't here yet. Or she was, but she had to leave for a second. So I'll tell you what, why don't you both come and help me?" the person said from behind the wall.  
  
Connor looked at his sister, who just shrugged and went off to do something else, hating the idea that she would actually have to work.  
  
"Thanks mate," the guy said as Connor came into view.  
  
Connor shrugged, "No biggie."  
  
The guy laughed, "M'name's Will. You?"  
  
"Connor," he answered as he made sure the wall would not fall.  
  
"Will!" Claire called as she walked into the gym.  
  
"Right here Kit, with your lover boy!" Will called from another area.  
  
"You're horrid!" Claire complained as she made her way over to the pair; she was blushing when she gave a hug to the older male. "Is Casey here?" she asked.  
  
Connor nodded. "Good!" Claire clapped her hands, Charlie is bringing a bunch of props in, and Casey should know where they go."  
  
Connor grinned as Claire flounced off. "She's a busy chit, that one," Will said, a small bit of mirth in his voice.  
  
"She's an angel," Connor breathed.  
  
Will laid a hand on Connor's shoulder, "An angel she is, but if you even think of hurting her, you'll wish you'd never met her."  
  
Connor glared at Will, "Never had an intention of hurting her"  
  
Will smiled, "Good to hear it mate, good to hear it. Now why don't we see what kind of props we're going to have to put up."  
  
Casey was ecstatic when she saw the kind of props that Claire brought, she was even happier when she saw Charlie. She gave a wicked grin to Lissa and Claire, "Ooh, can I play with this prop?" she asked in innocence.  
  
Claire laughed, "Sure, as long as I can play with Connor."  
  
Casey laughed, "You dirty girl! Go to Connor's room!" the three joked as Charlie, Connor, and Will came up.  
  
"Are you chits ready to do some work?" Will asked, as he leaned on a plastic post.  
  
"Nuh-uh, that's your job boys. Maybe Mitch will help you, he should be around, somewhere," Casey wagged her finger in Will's general direction.  
  
Forty minutes later everyone was in costume, and sitting in the hallway eating pizza.   
  
"I can't believe we're pulling this off!" Mitch said as he reached for his fifth piece of pizza.  
  
"I can't believe I survived this far," Connor muttered darkly as Claire mussed his hair.  
  
Once everyone finished his or her makeshift dinner, Casey stood up and smoothed out her short skirt. Connor growled when he saw how short it was, but Claire shushed him.   
  
"You're not in charge of her," she told the irate teenage brother who just narrowed his eyes in response, but he did not growl this time.  
  
"Well, everyone, it's time!" Casey stood up and strode towards the gym, all the girls following, leaving the guys to clean up like usual.  


* * *

  
Author's Note 2: I know, it's broked up, and I'm sirry, but I wanted some Casey-Charlie Action. So sue me, wait, on second thought don't. But review, please. I want to make 100 reviews by the time I post chapter 26. That would be really, really cool! Ta!  
  



	23. The Haunted

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. I may not even own the plot which may be owned by Ivorycat (read her stories, they're good!). She also may be writing for this, so look out for her input. Joss, the insane god he is, owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine.  
  
Attention: Look, there will be talk of, if not seen, cases of child abuse from Holtz. This happens because in my time line, Holtz took much of his anger out on Casey, and some out on Connor. But Connor was the favorite child of the two. More about that later. There also may be instance of corporal punishment. I would like to inform people that child abuse and corporal punishment are two different things. Corporal punishment will only happen when there is need for it to happen, and it will always be done in a loving environment.  
  
Author's Note: I am going to try and put my teenage characters though what normal teenagers go through. That may be bad grades, idiot teachers, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, and that such. Some may be embellished a little, but guess what? If they are, that's because I have yet to experience them in my high school. Now don't say that I make this some kind of soap opera, because quite frankly, life is one.  
  
Summery: The house finally serves its purpose  


* * *

  
Chapter Twenty-Three: The Haunted  
  
"How do I look?" Casey presented her outfit to another person who was working at the front.  
  
"To die for, Case," Jen answered.  
  
Casey laughed, "I hope that isn't literal. But anyway do you want to go through first and lead people, or me?" she asked   
  
Jen shrugged, "I'll take the first group. And we'll switch off from there, unless something comes up, okay?"  
  
Casey nodded, "Fine with me."  
  
The night went by really quickly until about 10:00, they had about 45 minutes left until they could all go home, that's when Angel and company showed up. Jen had just taken a group of younger kids in and Will had taken a break and was sitting there talking to Casey.  
  
Angel's eyes narrowed when he saw the blonde vampire leaning against the wall, talking to his daughter. "Get the hell away from my daughter Spike," Angel growled.  
  
Will looked up and grinned, "Well it's nice to see you Peaches," he then looked at Casey, "This is your old man?"  
  
Casey nodded to Will and then turned to her father; "I don't know how you know him, but stop it. He's being paid to be here, and I don't need you chasing him off."  
  
Will rolled his eyes, "I'm not being paid pet, Claire's just a pushy little chit, plus she has me wrapped around her little finger. I was persuaded by her puppy eyes to come and help."  
  
Casey sighed, "Whatever."  
  
Angel growled, not liking the fact that Spike and Casey seemed almost buddy-buddy. Casey looked at Cordelia for help. Cordelia laid a hand on Angel's arm. "Look, one of the leader people just came out, I think it's our turn to go, okay?" she lead him into the curtained entrance and Casey shot her a look that said 'thank you'.  
  
As Wesley, the last of the group, disappeared behind the curtain Casey turned to Will, "How do you know my father?" she demanded.  
  
Will smirked, "I thought you didn't want to know that little fact." Casey stuck her tongue out and Will laughed, "Mature kid, real mature."  
  
Casey rolled her eyes, "Who said I was trying to be mature? Now how do you know my father?"  
  
Will shrugged, "Let's just say your dad isn't so unique anymore."  
  
Casey stared at him; "You're a vampire…with a soul?" she stuttered.  
  
Will grinned, "I drink blood an everything."  
  
Casey opened and closed her mouth, not really sure what she should say. Finally she just turned on her heel and went to greet a group that would probably be the last for the night. Spike just grinned and went to the bathroom. A few minutes later Angel and company walked out, Angel was laughing, as the rest looked a bit shook up.  
  
"Have fun?" Casey asked as she came over.  
  
Gunn nodded, "You kids did good."  
  
Casey smiled, "Thanks," she then turned to her dad, "Connor and I are going to be home tomorrow. This is going to be a bitch to clean up, so we're all going to crash at Claire's. Okay?"  
  
Angel nodded, "Fine with me. I had fun, but be careful. And Casey?" he looked at his daughter.  
  
"Yeah?" she looked up at him as she played with her hair.  
  
"Tell Connor he screams like a girl," Angel laughed slightly as did the rest of the group.  
  
"See you later dad, love ya!" Casey smiled and gave her father a kiss on the cheek before the group left.  
  
"That guy is so not your father!" Jen exclaimed once Casey walked over.  
  
Casey slowly blinked at her, looking tired all of a sudden, "Looks can be deceiving," was all she said before she started to dismantle the entrance of the haunted house. "Give me a hand will ya?" she called, the previous moment, seemed to be forgotten.  


* * *

Author's Note 2: Yup, you got the Spike-Angel interaction. Now your up for some serious Charlie-Casey and Casey-Connor moments. Review and the chapters will come out quicker, I promise. And I give a shout out to zypher! She 's writing awesome stories, you have to read them!  



	24. Protection

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. I may not even own the plot which may be owned by Ivorycat (read her stories, they're good!). She also may be writing for this, so look out for her input. Joss, the insane god he is, owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine.****

**Attention**: Look, there will be talk of, if not seen, cases of child abuse from Holtz. This happens because in my time line, Holtz took much of his anger out on Casey, and some out on Connor. But Connor was the favorite child of the two. More about that later. There also may be instance of corporal punishment. I would like to inform people that child abuse and corporal punishment are two different things. Corporal punishment will only happen when there is need for it to happen, and it will always be done in a loving environment. 

Author's Note: I am going to try and put my teenage characters though what normal teenagers go through. That may be bad grades, idiot teachers, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, and that such. Some may be embellished a little, but guess what? If they are, that's because I have yet to experience them in my high school. Now don't say that I make this some kind of soap opera, because quite frankly, life is one. 

Summery: The question is, who needs it more? 

* * *

Chapter Twenty Four: Protection 

"So what do you guys want to do?" Claire asked as everyone stood in the now empty gym. Granted it wasn't everyone that had worked during the night, but it was a fairly nice sized group. It consisted of Will, Charlie, Casey, Connor, Claire, Mitch, Lissa, and Kara. 

Everyone shrugged, "Why don't we all go to your house and figure it out from there pet," Will suggested, shrugging on his familiar leather coat. 

Fifteen minutes later the group was walking down the street to Claire's house. As they walked, Casey found herself walking next to Charlie, striking up a conversation she found that not only was he hot, he could form a complete sentence. 

Connor glared at Charlie's back as they sauntered along. He did not like how they were all buddy-buddy. Didn't Casey have any self-respect? Finally he couldn't take it anymore and butted into their conversation, "Could I talk to you for a minute?" Connor asked Casey, grabbing her arm, he forced her to the back of the group. 

"What the hell is your problem?" Casey asked through gritted teeth. 

"I'm trying to protect you," Connor muttered. 

Casey's eyes narrowed. "Well this certainly is new! Where were you when Hotlz slapped me around, kicked me, abused me? I'll tell you where you were; you stood there. Didn't do anything. You may not have touched me, but you certainly never helped!" she spit and then went to catch up with Charlie. 

Connor stopped for a moment, she was right. He had never been one to help her. He remembered one time, was he nine? Holtz had gotten mad over something completely silly, a plate broken or something, he didn't really remember the reason, but Holtz started to kick her. And Connor just pretended he didn't notice. He did remember one thing though, her cries. The sobbing was heartbreaking. Feeling wetness in his eyes, Connor pushed the memory back in his brain. Crying was a sign of weakness. 

"What was that all about?" Charlie asked as Casey caught up to him. 

"My brother's deciding he want's to be overprotective for once," Casey rolled her eyes as she flipped her hair over her shoulder. 

Charlie grinned, "I don't blame him." 

Casey looked at him, "And why's that?" 

"Because if I had a sister as beautiful as you, I'd be defensive," Charlie kissed her cheek. 

Casey giggled, "That was almost sweet." 

Charlie only shrugged, "Hey, I try." 

By that time everyone had reached Claire's house and Casey went to find the nearest phone, dialing the hotel's number, she hoped Angel was actually home for once. 

"Hello?" Lorne answered. 

"Hey Lorne, can I speak to my dad?" Casey asked as she hopped up onto the counter, the phone line wrapped in her fingers. 

"No problemo Cupcake," Lorne answered in his usual fashion. 

Soon Angel was put on, "Yes sweat heart?" he answered with a sigh. 

"Don't sound so sad to hear my pretty voice!" Casey giggled, making Angel give a small chuckle. "But anyway, I was wondering if you could tell Connor to play nice." 

Angel snorted at this, "And why isn't Connor playing nice?" 

"Well, he basically told me not to talk to someone. And that's not fair!" Casey whined. 

Angel sighed, "Get Connor on the phone and I'll tell him to play nice." 

"Okay!" Casey smiled and slipped off the counter. "Connor!" she yelled into the living room. 

"What do you want?" Connor asked, coming into the kitchen. 

"Daddy want's to talk to you," Casey smiled and flounced off to the living room. 

"Yeah?" Connor answered the phone. 

"Casey wanted me to tell you to play nice. So, play nice," Angel said. 

"And why am I being told to 'play nice'?" Connor asked. 

"You're in the dark as much as I am. I think it has something to do with not letting her talk to someone, does that ring a bell?" Angel asked. 

Connor nodded, although his father could not see it, "She was talking to a boy. The boy was older. I don't like boys, especially older boys, talking to my little sister." 

Angel laughed, "Well never mind my previous order. Play as mean as you want." 

"Yes sir, I think that is an order I can follow. See ya tomorrow!" Connor hung up the phone and went back to the living room. "Hey Charlie, can talk to you?" Connor asked. He deliberately ignored Casey's icy glare. 

Charlie stood up and they went back into the kitchen. 

"What's up mate?" Charlie asked in a lightly accented English. It sounded like a mix of Brazilian and British. 

Connor looked at him, his face serious, "You break my little sister's heart, I break you." 

Charlie looked at him, his face now expressionless. "You do the same to Claire. She's like a little sister to me. Do me a favor and think with your big head, not your little one." 

Connor nodded, "So do we understand each other?" 

Charlie returned the nod. "We do." 

* * *

  
Author's Note 2: Ooh, sweetness factor is apparent here! Hehe, well the next chapter's even more fun, if not more sappy. So stay tuned! 


	25. I'd Do Anything for Love But Not That

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. I may not even own the plot which may be owned by Ivorycat (read her stories, they're good!). She also may be writing for this, so look out for her input. Joss, the insane god he is, owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine. 

Attention: Look, there will be talk of, if not seen, cases of child abuse from Holtz. This happens because in my time line, Holtz took much of his anger out on Casey, and some out on Connor. But Connor was the favorite child of the two. More about that later. There also may be instance of corporal punishment. I would like to inform people that child abuse and corporal punishment are two different things. Corporal punishment will only happen when there is need for it to happen, and it will always be done in a loving environment. 

Author's Note: I am going to try and put my teenage characters though what normal teenagers go through. That may be bad grades, idiot teachers, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, and that such. Some may be embellished a little, but guess what? If they are, that's because I have yet to experience them in my high school. Now don't say that I make this some kind of soap opera, because quite frankly, life is one. 

Summery: Here's a hook up, there's a hook up. 

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Five: I'd Do Anything for Love (But Not That) 

And I would do anything for love,   
I'd run right into hell and back,   
I would do anything for love,   
I'll never lie to you and that's a fact. 

But I'll never forget the way you feel right now   
- Oh no - no way - I would do anything for love,   
But I won't do that; I won't do that, anything for love,   
I would do anything for love; I would do anything for love,   
But I won't do that, I won't do that. 

Some days it don't come easy,   
Some days it don't come hard   
Some days it don't come at all,   
And these are the days that never end. 

Some nights you breathe fire,   
Some nights you're carved in ice,   
Some nights you're like nothing I've ever seen before, or will again. 

Casey sighed as the she and seven others sat in the practically empty, save for their little group. Everyone was spread out, some alone, some in pairs like she was. She and Charlie sat together, talking. 

He wrapped an arm around her and Casey stiffened slightly. Connor looked her way and they locked eyes. Connor smiled softly and Casey returned the smile, comforted. 

Maybe I'm crazy, But it's crazy and it's true,   
I know you can save me, No one else can save me now but you. 

As long as the planets are turning,   
As long as the stars are burning,   
As long as your dreams are coming true - You better believe it! - 

That I would do anything for love,   
And I'll be there until the final act -   
I would do anything for love!   
And I'll take a Vow and Seal a pact - 

But I'll never forgive myself if we don't go all the way - Tonight -   
I would do anything for love!   
I would do anything for love,   
I would do anything for love,   
But I won't do that; I won't do that... 

"So how long have you known Will?" Casey asked, leaning her head against Charlie's shoulder. 

Charlie laughed, "Ever since I was born. My mother was his housekeeper, as I grew up, he became something like a big brother to me." 

Casey smiled, "That's really sweet. Now if every guy was jus as sweet as that. Girls would have no problem." 

Charlie chuckled and gave her a small hug around the shoulders. 

I would do anything for love,   
Anything you've been dreaming of,   
But I just wont do that... 

Some days I pray for Silence,   
Some days I pray for Soul,   
Some days I just pray to the God of Sex and Drums and Rock 'N' Roll. 

Some nights I lose the feeling,   
Some nights I lose control,   
Some nights I just lose it all when I watch you dance and the thunder rolls. 

Maybe I'm lonely, and that's all I'm qualified to be,   
There's just one and only, The one and only promise I can keep. 

The two sat together, enjoying one another's company. Somehow the conversation lead to childhood's and Casey felt her temperature rise. Once again the two siblings locked eyes and Casey started to chant to herself, "Connor stay out of this, Connor stay out of this," in her head. 

As long as the wheels are turning,   
As long as the fires are burning,   
As long as your prayers are coming true - You better believe it -! 

That I would do anything for love!   
And you know it's true and that's a fact,   
I would do anything for love!   
And there'll never be no turning back - 

But I'll never do it better than I do it with you,   
So long - So long - I would do anything for love,   
I would do anything for love,   
I would do anything for love,   
I would do anything for love,   
But I won't do that, I won't do that! 

_"What do you mean stay out of this? He's upsetting you!"_ Casey heard Connor think.__

_"Get out of my head!"_ Casey mentally screamed. 

_"Get out of mine!"_ Connor challenged. 

"_Argh! You are so annoying!"_ Casey mentally screamed. 

Connor smirked, _"Takes one to know one,"_ he then turned serious. "_If he even tries to hurt you, I'll hurt him."_

Casey smiled,_ "That's all very comforting, but get out of my head. You do not need to know all the smutty thoughts I have about Charlie."_

Connor rolled his eyes, _"You're right, I don't."_

I would do anything for love,   
Anything you've been dreaming of,   
But I just wont do that... 

But I'll never stop dreaming of you   
Everynight of my life - No Way - 

I would do anything for love,   
I would do anything for love,   
I would do anything for love,   
But I won't do that, I won't do that! 

Girl : Will you raise me up?   
Will you help me down?   
Will you help get me right out of this Godforsaken town?   
Will you make it a little less cold? 

Charlie touched Casey's shoulder, "If you don't want to talk about it, it's okay." 

Casey smiled, "It's not that I don't trust you, I do. You did save my life that one time. It's just that, I didn't have a very happy childhood. No one should know that pain. And I don't want you to know the pain, even if it was just from me telling you. 

Charlie gave her a squeeze on her shoulder, "It's okay, I understand." 

Boy : I can do that!   
I can do that! 

Girl : Will you hold me sacred?   
will you hold me tight?   
Can you colorize my life I'm so sick of black and white?   
Can you make it a little less old? 

Boy : I can do that!   
I can do that! 

Girl : Will you make me some magic, with your own two hands?   
Can you build an Emerald city with these grains of sand?   
Can you give me something that I can take home? 

"I really like you," Casey stated bluntly. 

Charlie smiled, "I really like you. 

Casey looked at him, "Well since that is settled, why don't you ask me out on a date?" 

"Don't you think this is already one?" Charlie asked coyly. 

"Maybe, but you haven't kissed me yet. So it isn't an official date yet," Casey batted her eyelashes. 

Boy : I can do that!   
I can do that! 

Girl : Will you cater to every fantasy that I've got?   
Will ya hose me down with holy water - if I get too hot - ?   
Will you take me to places that I've never known? 

Boy : I can do that!   
I can do that! 

Girl : After a while you'll forget everything,   
It was a brief interlude, And a midsummer night's fling,   
And you'll see that it's time to move on. 

Charlie leaned down and gave Casey a peck on the cheek. Casey pouted, "Cold." Charlie kissed her again, this time on her lips, but it was still just a peck. "Warm," Casey gave him a not so shy smile. Charlie gave a chuckle and this time really went for her lips. "Hot!" Casey said as they came up. 

"And that's exactly how I feel about you," Charlie said as he went back down for another kiss. 

Boy : I won't do that!   
I won't do that! 

Girl : I know the territory - I've been around,   
It'll all turn to dust and we'll all fall down,   
And sooner or later you'll be screwing around. 

Boy : I won't do that!   
I won't do that! 

Anything for love, I would do anything for love,   
I would do anything for love,   
But I won't do that, I won't do that. 

Connor looked on, with a mixture of pride and disgust. "That, right there, is something I never want to witness again," he told Claire. 

She just laughed, "You're just jealous because you can't get none. Besides it's sweet really. They've had some serious sexual tension. They've finally gone for some sexual healing." 

Connor looked at her, "I'm not jealous!" he said indignantly. 

Clare rolled her eyes. "Yes you are, but it's my job to make you a little less jealous." Leaning over, she kissed him.   


* * *

  
Author's Note 2: Is this enough sap for y'all? I don't own the song, if anyone's interested, the song is I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't do That) by Meat Loaf. Reviews are appreciated very much! Now please review, pretty please? 


	26. Vanity

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. I may not even own the plot which may be owned by Ivorycat (read her stories, they're good!). She also may be writing for this, so look out for her input. Joss, the insane god he is, owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine. 

**Attention**: Look, there will be talk of, if not seen, cases of child abuse from Holtz. This happens because in my time line, Holtz took much of his anger out on Casey, and some out on Connor. But Connor was the favorite child of the two. More about that later. There also may be instance of corporal punishment. I would like to inform people that child abuse and corporal punishment are two different things. Corporal punishment will only happen when there is need for it to happen, and it will always be done in a loving environment. 

Author's Note: I am going to try and put my teenage characters though what normal teenagers go through. That may be bad grades, idiot teachers, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, and that such. Some may be embellished a little, but guess what? If they are, that's because I have yet to experience them in my high school. Now don't say that I make this some kind of soap opera, because quite frankly, life is one. 

Summery: Vanity gets you nowhere. 

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Six: Vanity 

Angel looked at his friend and co-worker. "Run this by me once again?" he asked Wesley. 

"You know as well as I do that Casey messes around with my stuff. Especially with magic. She'd just gotten better at hiding it when I'm around," Wesley sighed as he opened the book. 

"Okay, and what's the plan?" Angel sighed as he looked towards his friend. 

"Here," Wesley passed a piece of paper to Angel. 

Quickly Angel read it over and looked at Wesley, "It's a simple age changing spell. From old to young." 

Wesley nodded, "Exactly. With a little mislabeling, Casey will be feeling the effects of not using the proper precautions when practicing magic." 

Angel's forehead creased. "But you said this would affect both of my children, and I don't see why Connor would be punished for something he didn't do," Angel explained his worry. 

Wesley smiled, "But with this spell requires two people to perform the spell. Well it really needs one, but it's more powerful with just one person." 

Angel nodded, "And it will wear off how long after the initial spell is cast?" 

Wesley shrugged, "If it's two people and the ingredients are strong enough, it could last a little over a fortnight. If it's just one person, it could be about three days or so." 

Angel sighed, "Let's do it." 

A couple of days later Casey was snooping through Wesley's books when she came across a spell. "Hmm, a spell for no more pimples? This could be fun!" she thought to herself as she walked up to her bedroom. 

Unlocking a drawer in her desk she rifled through the contents. She had the four crystals, the wolfsbane she knew she could get just down the street. She had plenty of blood running through her veins. What she needed was the bowl, she could buy it on ebay, and the right time to do it. 

She thought of sharing the spell with Connor, but then decided against it. He would back out of it, and probably tell their father, leaving her no where. No, she was going to keep the spell to herself. She'd be the one with perfect skin.

A few days later found Casey sitting in her room, waiting for the house to settle down for the night. And by that, she meant that everyone that had some kind of supernatural hearing or are completely nosey were gone. In both instances, that meant Connor.  
  
Casey looked at the spell, she knew she could read Wesley's neat handwriting, but the real question was if she could read the curious words on the paper. It's not that they were particularly long words or had many confusing syllables. No, the words were just strange and foreign to her ears, but after a few silent run-throughs, Casey was sure she got it.  
  
Lighting the candles in succession, starting with the one on her right and going counter clockwise, she turned off the lights, leaving the room cast in an eerie light upon the room. Taking the dark crystals that she had bought out, she preformed the relatively easy part of the spell, the setting up.  
  
Now it was time to chant the words, and chant she did. An unseen wind blew the candles out in rapid succession, in the same order she had lit them. The room was now dark and Casey let out the breath she had been holding. A sensation of pins and needles traveled from Casey's toes to Casey's head. Shivering slightly, Casey crawled to her bed.  
  
Unbeknownst to her, she knocked over her circle or candles, causing the candles' wax to fall into the bowl of the boiled wolfsbane. The crystals, the dark as well as the light ones, fell upon the floor in a perfectly straight line. This just sealed the fate of the spell even more.  


* * *

  
Author's Note 2: Short I know, but after the last chapter, I deserve it. So there! Cute part is coming in the next couple of chapters, so stay tuned, m'kay?  



	27. Noon or Apocalypse, Whichever Comes Firs...

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. I may not even own the plot which may be owned by Ivorycat (read her stories, they're good!). She also may be writing for this, so look out for her input. Joss, the insane god he is, owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine.  
  
**Attention**: Look, there will be talk of, if not seen, cases of child abuse from Holtz. This happens because in my time line, Holtz took much of his anger out on Casey, and some out on Connor. But Connor was the favorite child of the two. More about that later. There also may be instance of corporal punishment. I would like to inform people that child abuse and corporal punishment are two different things. Corporal punishment will only happen when there is need for it to happen, and it will always be done in a loving environment.  
  
Author's Note: I am going to try and put my teenage characters though what normal teenagers go through. That may be bad grades, idiot teachers, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, and that such. Some may be embellished a little, but guess what? If they are, that's because I have yet to experience them in my high school. Now don't say that I make this some kind of soap opera, because quite frankly, life is one.  
  
Summery: The affects of the spell are discovered. 

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Noon or Apocalypse, Whichever Comes First  
  
Casey opened her eyes and yawned. Sitting up, she screamed. Her legs didn't even make it halfway down the bed. "Daddy!" she screamed again.  
  
Connor stumbled into the room, "What's all the screaming about?" he asked, "Was trying to sleep you know." He rubbed his eyes and looked up, "Good lord!" he stared at her before turning around and running down the hall and banging on his father's door.  
  
"W'at do ye wan'?" Angel asked, sleep still fogging his eyes, which accounted for his Irish brogue being so apparent.  
  
"It's Casey, she's little!" Connor cried.  
  
Angel sighed and ran a hand through his tousled hair. "Do me a favor and get Wesley. He should be in the office," Angel said without a hint of the brogue.   
  
Striding into his daughter's room he was confronted by a four-year-old. "Casey?" Angel asked as he kneeled down.  
  
"What's happening?" she whimpered in a small child's fashion.  
  
Angel leaned down and gathered the frightened child into his arms and straightened. Quickly walking down the hall he bumped into a determined Wesley with a very confused Connor following him.  
  
Connor looked at his sister; "The little dudette's my sister, weird."   
  
Casey looked at Connor and then promptly stuck her tongue out.  
  
"Casey," Angel said in a warning voice as he readjusted the little girl on his hip. She looked up at him with large puppy dog eyes. "That' wasn't very nice," Angel finished lamely.  
  
"I'm going to bed, this is just one," Connor's eyes flickered to his father's, who narrowed them, "messed up dream. See y'all later," and with that Connor headed back in his room, presumably to sleep until noon. Or the next apocalypse, which ever came first.  
  
Casey watched him as Angel and Wesley talked, making sure no one was watching her, she stuck her tongue out once more.  


* * *

Author's Note 2: Okay, I know, really, really short. But the next chapter's longer. I promise. Now all you have to do is hit the little review button to make me really, really happy. Please do it, please?  



	28. Big Brother Days

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. I may not even own the plot which may be owned by Ivorycat (read her stories, they're good!). She also may be writing for this, so look out for her input. Joss, the insane god he is, owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine.  
  
**Attention**: Look, there will be talk of, if not seen, cases of child abuse from Holtz. This happens because in my time line, Holtz took much of his anger out on Casey, and some out on Connor. But Connor was the favorite child of the two. More about that later. There also may be instance of corporal punishment. I would like to inform people that child abuse and corporal punishment are two different things. Corporal punishment will only happen when there is need for it to happen, and it will always be done in a loving environment.  
  
Author's Note: I am going to try and put my teenage characters though what normal teenagers go through. That may be bad grades, idiot teachers, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, and that such. Some may be embellished a little, but guess what? If they are, that's because I have yet to experience them in my high school. Now don't say that I make this some kind of soap opera, because quite frankly, life is one.  
  
Summery: Connor deals with having a little sister.  


* * *

  
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Big Brother Days  
  
Connor tried to roll over but found he couldn't. He groaned, after just getting back to sleep too, he found that he was woken up once more. Opening his eyes a pair of very similar to how own stared back. "Wake up sleepy head!" she demanded, bouncing on his stomach lightly.  
  
"Erg," Connor groaned.  
  
"Wake up!" Casey persisted, bouncing a bit harder.  
  
"Is there an apocalypse coming?" Connor asked.  
  
Casey shook her head. "No. What's an apocalypse?" she asked.  
  
Connor sighed, and tried to site up, with minimal luck, but he finally did it. "Is it noon yet?" he asked, changing the subject.  
  
Casey shrugged ad she scrambled down. "How should in know, I can't read a clock."  
  
Connor slid out of his bed and tried to smooth out his messy hair, with no luck. Glancing at the clock, he saw it was 10:30, he could drop her off and come back to the bed. Picking her up like he saw his father do, he walked downstairs.  
  
"Ah, you're away," Angel said as he saw Connor come down with Casey in his arms.  
  
Connor gave him a lazy, lopsided grin, "Only for the moment. Here, you taker here," he gave Casey to his father. "I have a 90 minute date with my bed."  
  
Returning to his room, Connor locked the door and fell into bed. Sleep was a good thing. He liked sleep. He needed sleep. Throwing the covers over his head, he rolled over and fell asleep once more.  
  
Only to be reawakened, not thirty minutes later to a consistent pounding on his door. It was too light to be his father. Unlocking the door, he threw it open to reveal Casey.  
  
"Hi!" Casey said brightly.  
  
Connor just glowered at her as he pulled on a pair of shoes and walked out the room. As he walked downstairs, Connor shook his head as Casey followed. "I'm going to Claire's so I can sleep," he announced to anyone in the lobby and walked out the door.  
  
Walking over two or three blocks, Connor soon made his way to his best friend's house. Knocking, he waited for Claire to answer. Finally she did, with some surprise.  
  
"Do you have a place I can crash for a few hours?" Connor asked as he stumbled in.  
  
"Yeah, sure. Is your dad being annoying again?" Claire asked as she let him in.  
  
Connor shook his head, "Naw, he's being good for once. It's Casey she won't let me sleep."  
  
A few hours later, Connor walked back down to the living room, coming directly into a conversation between Charlie, Will and Claire. "Uh, hello," Connor said as he scratched the back of his head, obviously embarrassed.   
  
Will turned to Claire, "How long has he been sleeping here?" he demanded.  
  
Claire shrugged, "This is the second or third time. He couldn't get any peace at his house so he crashed here for a few hours."  
  
Will turned towards Connor. "That chit, Casey, is your sister, right?" Connor nodded. "Then Peaches is your father. Now I don't blame you." Will laughed.  
  
Connor quirked an eyebrow. "You know my dad?"  
  
Will shrugged, "He's my bloody grandsire. A pouf at that. But I didn't have a choice in that, now did I?"  
  
Connor looked at Will, confusing written clearly upon his face. "Huh?"  
  
Charlie sighed, Will always had a way of making things way too confusing. "He mean that Angel is a Nancy-boy. Well that's what he's complaining about. They both have a soul, although your father is a lot more anal about it."  
  
Connor looked at Will; "You're a vampire?"  
  
Will nodded, "Been on for over 100 years. But enough about me, what about you?"  
  
Connor ignored Will and turned to Claire, "You knew he was vampire and you let him into your house anyway?"  
  
Claire glared back at Connor, "Like your father isn't one. Don't think I haven't noticed, and don't deny it, I know more about the supernatural that you think."  
  
Will looked between the two teens. "As much fun as it is watching you two have a stare off, I am sitting in the room!"  
  
Claire gave a guilty look towards Will. "Sorry Will!" she said and gave him a hug.  
  
Connor just stared at Will for a moment. "How did you get a soul?"  
  
Will shrugged, "I went in search of a legend. But at least it's no curse, but then again it is if you look at if from my point of view, it is one."  
  
Connor looked at Will. "My father has a curse on him?"  
  
Will slapped his forehead. "Bleedin' hell. Has no one even thought to mention the whole curse ordeal to you?"  
  
Connor shook his head. "Maybe you'd like to enlighten me?" he asked, smirking.  
  
Will shrugged, "I have nothing to lose, except maybe my life. But what the hell. In the late 1700's, throughout the 1800's, and into the beginning of the 1900's, your father was known at the Scourge of Europe, the one with the angelic face, Angelus. Well he made the mistake of eating the wrong person. She was dumber than a post, but a favorite of her gypsy clan. They curse him and he's just off this side of sane for a couple decades. Somehow he get's himself together and goes to Sunnydale, the resident Hellmouth. Boinks the Slayer, whose a good shag if I say so m'self, and lost his soul. Sent to hell. Came back, and left Sunnydale. Came to LA, and you'll have to ask your da about what happened after that."  
  
Connor looked shocked, "And here I thought my life was weird…" he said to himself.  
  
Will's eyebrow rose, "Kid you have no idea."  
  
Connor shrugged, "Look, I have to go. Someone's going to have to watch Casey tonight since she decided to pull something and turned herself into a four year old."  
  
Claire looked at Connor, "And you were going to tell me this when?"  
  
Connor looked at her. "Never. Casey will kill me when she finds out that I told."  
  
Will smirked, "She's a violent chit that one. Reminds me of the Slayer, except she doesn't have all super strength, does she?"  
  
Connor shook his head, "That's my area of expertise. Or at least I think it is. But I should really be going. It's 4:30 already, I've been here for way too long."  
  
Will smirked. "Charlie and I will be here if you need any help watching the chit. She seemed be a handful when she was 16; I'd hate to see her at 4. Oh well, all you have to do is ring."  
  
Connor waved as he walked out of Claire's house and made the short journey to the Hyperion. He felt someone try to run by him as soon as he entered. Grabbing the bundle of energy, he brought Casey up to his face.  
  
"Who are you running from?" he asked.  
  
"Me," Cordelia said as she walked up to the pair.  
  
"Here," Connor thrust the squirming Casey toward the woman and headed towards the stairs. "I'm going to get changed. I'll watch her tonight while the rest of you are out. It's not fair if someone else was stuck watching her."  
  
Cordelia watched as the teenage boy walked up the stairs. "That'd be nice Connor, that'd be real nice," she called after him. He only raised his hand in return before he headed to his own room. She then turned her attention towards Casey, "And it's time for you Miss to get dressed."  
  



	29. Playing Tic Tac Crossbow

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. I may not even own the plot which may be owned by Ivorycat (read her stories, they're good!). She also may be writing for this, so look out for her input. Joss, the insane god he is, owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine.  
  
**Attention**: Look, there will be talk of, if not seen, cases of child abuse from Holtz. This happens because in my time line, Holtz took much of his anger out on Casey, and some out on Connor. But Connor was the favorite child of the two. More about that later. There also may be instance of corporal punishment. I would like to inform people that child abuse and corporal punishment are two different things. Corporal punishment will only happen when there is need for it to happen, and it will always be done in a loving environment.  
  
Author's Note: I am going to try and put my teenage characters though what normal teenagers go through. That may be bad grades, idiot teachers, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, and that such. Some may be embellished a little, but guess what? If they are, that's because I have yet to experience them in my high school. Now don't say that I make this some kind of soap opera, because quite frankly, life is one.  
  
Summery: Little Casey's a holy terror, and Connor's having second thoughts about babysitting.   


* * *

  
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Playing Tic Tac Crossbow  
  
Connor looked at his sister. "So, what do you want to do?" he asked her.  
  
"I want to play with those!" Casey pointed to the weapons cabinet.  
  
Connor's eyes widened. "I don't think that's a very good idea," he said slowly.  
  
"And why not?" Casey turned to him, hands on her hips.  
  
Connor gulped, "There for big kids," he said finally.  
  
Casey stared at him as Connor closed his eyes and thought. This was going to turn into one of those nights, you know the kind, when nothing went your way and you couldn't say anything or it would come and hit you back in the face again. Yup, Connor was having one of those nights and he was not happy about it.  
  
"I'm a big kid!" Casey stamped her foot, trying to make her point, but it made her look even more juvenile than she was.  
  
"Just not big enough though," Connor said. "Why don't we do something else?" he asked, trying desperately to distract her.  
  
"No!" Casey said persistently.  
  
"Fine, but don't go squealing to dad about this, or you'll be sorry." Connor growled out as he stalked over to where the weapons were stored.  
  
Trifling thought the cabinet, he held out a crossbow, unloaded. "Stay there, and just hold it," he instructed as he went to clear away anything breakable as he set up the large target. Cordelia would kill him if anything broke.  
  
"I'm bored!" Casey said as she watched him.  
  
"Hold your horses!" Connor spit out as he put up his last target.  
  
Casey gave him a confused look, "But I don't have any horses," she said.  
  
Connor sighed, but didn't say anything; there was no use in trying to confuse the small child that was once his twin sister. "Okay," Connor started as he sat down; Casey went over and sat in his lap. The action surprised Connor to say the least, but he smiled when Casey snuggled in to get herself comfortable. "Are you done now?" Connor asked, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.  
  
"Yup!" Casey said brightly, her face upturned so they could look at each other. The sarcasm was definitely lost on her.  
  
"Okay, now this is how you load the crossbow," Connor showed the four-year-load the arrow and then the proper way to do it. "Now practice loading and unloading it," he instructed.  
  
"This is boring!" Casey announced after 15 minutes.  
  
"Well let me see if you can do it correctly," Connor said. She showed him. Sighing, Connor pushed his sister lightly off his lap and stood. "Okay," he made Casey stand five feet away from the first target. "If you can get the yellow part, we'll go farther, okay?"  
  
Casey aimed and released the trigger. "Fun!" she squealed.  
  
Connor looked at her, "Kid, never say that about the crossbow again, at least not when you're this size and I'm this close to you."  
  
Casey looked up at Connor, her eyes seemingly innocent, "Why not?"  
  
"Because little girls like you shouldn't be playing with dangerous things like that," came a new voice from the doorway.  
  
Connor's head whipped around, and saw it was only Will. "He's right you know," Connor said as he lifted the crossbow out of Casey's hands.  
  
"Give it back now!" Casey said as tears welled up in her eyes.  
  
Connor raised his eyebrow, "First of all you should have said the magic word and second of all, no. It wasn't very smart of me to let you hold a crossbow, let alone fire one." He then stalked over to the weapons cabinet and put the crossbow back. He then locked it. There was no telling what Casey may do if no one was watching her.  
  
"Come on luv, I bet there are tons of stuff to do around here," Will said, trying to help Connor out.  
  
"But I wanted to play with the weapons!" Casey whined.   
  
Will's eyes flashed, "Weapons are not toys. They can hurt people, they are not to be played with," he said seriously. "Do you understand?" he asked her.  
  
Casey nodded and went over to Connor who was walking up to the second floor where the TV and VCR were, he was planning on popping in a movie for Casey and talking to Will. Selecting Beauty and the Beast, he placed Casey in front of the TV and walked to the other end of the room.  
  
"So why'd you show up?" he asked.  
  
Will laughed, "What, no thank you?"  
  
Connor cracked a smile, "Thanks, now why did you show up?"  
  
Will shrugged, "I was not going to leave you here. Besides, Charlie was itching to do something, so he left. I got bored and came here. Figured the chit would give me some kind of entertainment. Speaking of the little devil, look whose here."  
  
Connor looked down and saw Casey looking at him. "Yes?" Connor asked, sounding much like his father.  
  
"I want to play with the weapons! The movie's boring," Casey complained.  
  
"And weapons are not for playing with, besides, I said no before. I'm not going to say yes now," Connor reasoned.  
  
Casey's face scrunching up and became red and blotchy. "You're mean!" she screamed, tears trickling down the corners of her eyes. And then promptly kicked him in the shin.  


* * *

Author's Note 2: Okay y'all you all have gidgetgirl to thank for making put this up. Mainly because she doesn't live that far away from me, so she can do bodliy harm if she threatens it. Now I have cute Casey goodness with an exsessive amounts of love for weapons, and yes Jen knowns this. She told me to do it. ^^. Now I would really like reviews because they make me feel all special and I get to do the happy dance. And it also means I get to laugh in school, and that makes me feel special. And if no one reviews, then I'm not going to write/post until after the 24th, because if no one seems to get pleasure out of this fic, I can always spend my time studying...and who would want to do that?  
  
Oh! And if you like my work. Then you better check out my brain child. That sound so wrong when you think about it, but I'm co-authoring a fic with gidgetgirl, Lian, and Ivorycat. The sory is called Savior and if you like Connor, you'll like this. I promise. We'll have a great cast of characters, old and new. Connor of course will be there, along with Spikey goodness. Now who could resist. But don't worry, we won't be tying _Connor_ up....promise. *grins devishly* Spike on the other hand....well that's debateable.   
  
Little snippit for y'all to read:  
  
_"Took you long enough Whelp," Spike smirked as Connor grimaced.  
  
"Demon," Connor shot back.  
  
"Brat," Spike smirked again, "Might not want to fight me, been doing this a long time.  
  
Connor glared at the bleached blonde, "Daman."  
  
Spike laughed, "Been there done that Broody: part Deux."  
  
Connor actually grinned at that. "That's where you're wrong. You're related to Angelus just as much as I am. You've known him longer. You're Broody: part Deux, if anything, I'm Broody: Part Tres."_  
  
Okay, that's if for now. But you better all read, or I'll sic Jen on ya! Or maybe Mel my lovable best friend who has a fetish for biting people, or maybe I'll send my other personality, Eve (another little pyro) on ya. Now that will be fun!  
  
But y'all better review, please?  
  



	30. Babysitting Crash Course

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. I may not even own the plot which may be owned by Ivorycat (read her stories, they're good!). She also may be writing for this, so look out for her input. Joss, the insane god he is, owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine.  
  
Attention: Look, there will be talk of, if not seen, cases of child abuse from Holtz. This happens because in my time line, Holtz took much of his anger out on Casey, and some out on Connor. But Connor was the favorite child of the two. More about that later. There also may be instance of corporal punishment. I would like to inform people that child abuse and corporal punishment are two different things. Corporal punishment will only happen when there is need for it to happen, and it will always be done in a loving environment.  
  
Author's Note: I am going to try and put my teenage characters though what normal teenagers go through. That may be bad grades, idiot teachers, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, and that such. Some may be embellished a little, but guess what? If they are, that's because I have yet to experience them in my high school. Now don't say that I make this some kind of soap opera, because quite frankly, life is one.  
  
Summery: More chaos in babysitting.  
  
Chapter Thirty: Babysitting Crash Course  
  
Connor stared at his sister for a second before reacting. "Casey!" he shouted as he saw the little girl scamper out of the room.  
  
"Better go catch her mate, there's no telling where she'll go," Will said from the back of the room.  
  
Connor nodded and jogged out. He may be bigger and be able to take larger strides; Casey was small and quick. He made a sharp left as he exited the room and stopped for a moment. He then started up again, by taking a running leap. Eventually he came to stairs, jumping over the banister; he landed in the lobby, right in front of Casey.  
  
"Going some where?" he asked as he swooped down and picked her up.  
  
"Um.no?" Casey looked at him; her eyes wide open in a puppy dog look.  
  
Connor closed his eyes; suddenly he knew what his father had to deal with. It was hard to escape those eyes. Finally he opened them as he marched into the office. Setting her firmly down on the seat he looked at her, "Ten minutes," he said and walked out.  
  
"Look at you, all papa bear like," Will smirked as Connor sighed and jumped up on the main desk.  
  
"Shove it," Connor shook his head, getting the hair out of his eyes.  
  
"Hey it's true," Will shrugged. "Are you getting paid to do this?"  
  
Connor shook his head; "I did it out of good will. I was gone most of the day anyway."  
  
Will smirked, "Tell them you want to get paid, or else you'll get walked all over. Learn the ideals of the capitalistic society."  
  
Connor nodded numbly, "Stop twirling Casey. You're supposed to be bored and thinking about what you did, not spinning around and entertaining yourself," he called out.  
  
Will laughed, "You've got an eye for kids mate. But don't go making them too soon. Little brats under foot make for no personal time. God knows I had to do that enough with fledglings. Teenagers are much better." He nodded his head as Connor looked up.  
  
"Thanks, I think," Connor said slowly. "Was that a compliment?"  
  
Will nodded, "Boys I understand a lot better than girls. And I don't have to worry about hormonal boys attacking you. Instead I have to worry about you attacking Claire."  
  
"Which I won't do!" Connor promised. He then looked at his watch; time was almost up.  
  
"Wait, she won't learn a lesson if you let her off," Will warned.  
  
Connor sighed and nodded, Will was right. The two minutes ticked by in agonizing slowness. Finally they were up, standing; Connor walked into the office and kneeled in front of his sister. "Promise never to kick again?" he asked softly.  
  
Casey nodded her head slowly.  
  
"Pinky swear?" Connor smiled slightly.  
  
"Pinky swear!" Casey nodded happily and quickly got out of the chair, but not before doing the ritual.  
  
The brother and sister walked out of the office and played around for awhile, somehow Casey conned both Will and Connor to giver her piggyback rides. And she was still raring to go when both fell down. "Get Up!" Casey demanded.  
  
"Pet, we're both tired, can't you go watch a movie or something?" Will moaned.  
  
Connor laughed slightly, who knew a four-year-old, could tire out two grown men, who both had supernatural strength. Looking at his watch he turned his head toward Will. "Go home. It's almost time for Casey to go to b-e-d anyway. You deserve all the rest you can get. You've been a great help," he smiled  
  
Casey frowned as she heard Connor spell out a word, which always meant something bad, was going to happen. Her frowned deepened as she saw Will stand up and head for the door. "Don't go!" she cried and ran towards the blonde man.  
  
"I'll be back pet. Your old man will have to fight me to keep me away. Now give me a kiss and say goodnight," he demanded as he kneeled down.  
  
Casey complied as she gave him a sloppy wet one on the cheek. "'Night Spike!" she said happily before running off towards Connor.  
  
Will's eyes bugged out, how had she known that? He had never told a soul about his life in Sunnyhell, and not many knew about it, save for Angel, Cordelia, and Charlie. And they wouldn't tell, well he could trust Charlie enough with the secret, but the former May Queen? He could trust them couldn't he? He supposed he could, after all they were all fighting the same thing, evil.  
  
Grinning, Will pressed his thoughts into the back of his mind and left, ready to go back home where he could get a nice bottle of spirits and a smoke.  
  
The next thirty minutes brought on quiet amusement, but that was broken when Connor said the 'b' word, bedtime.  
  
"But I don't wanna go to bed!" Casey wailed as she stood on the couch.  
  
"But it's 10:30. Most kids you're age were in bed at least two hours ago. Dad would have had you in bed at least an hour ago. Please just do me a favor and go to bed!" Connor pleaded.  
  
"No!" Casey jumped off the couch and ran out of the door.  
  
Connor sighed and took up the chase, and caught her easily. He quickly made his way up to her room; she struggled the whole way there. "Stop kicking, you promised not to," Connor said evenly as he was up the first flight of stairs. This only made her struggle harder, causing Connor to loosen his grip for a moment. But before she could get away, Connor had a firm grip once more.  
  
Walking into her room Connor sat on her bed, Casey draped over his lap. Holding on to her, he sighed, "I asked you not to kick, yet you did it anyway, even thought you promised you wouldn't. I put up with your general bratiness tonight, and your rather lucky I don't leave this to Dad, he'd have your hide." And with that little speech, Connor's hand came down on Casey's bottom.  
  
Nine times later, Casey was bawling and Connor got her ready for bed. Tucking her in on her side, he kissed her on the forehead. "I love you. Good night," he whispered, before he turned off the lights. The night light burned brightly, since they had found out that Casey had been afraid of the dark.  
  
"Go 'way," Casey mumbled, her pride wounded, "I hate you!" she nearly yelled the last part, but a yawn muffled the sound.  
  
Connor sighed as he walked downstairs, his math book in his hands. He was going to wait up until his dad showed up. He didn't have to wait long, because in less then ten minutes Angel walked in the door, his back covered in mud.  
  
"Rough night?" Connor tried to sympathize.  
  
"Landed in the mud a few times. If the demons weren't dead, I'd send them the dry cleaning bill. So how was your night?" Angel asked as he pulled of his shirt, looked at it in disgust and tossed it in the trash can.  
  
"Casey was a brat," Connor confessed. "I ended up having to spank her, although it was a last resort. And I know I really have no right to do that, but I didn't know what else to do. She wouldn't listen any other way."  
  
Angel gave him a hard look, "You're right, you had no right to. But tell me what happened, and maybe I won't have your ass." Connor nodded and told him the story of Casey pleading with him to use the weapons, Angel's face darkened at that, but listened anyway. Connor went on to tell how she had thrown a temper tanturm when Connor came to his senses, with Will's help of course, and finally about what had transpired only 10 minutes before. Angel stood in silence for a minute, "You didn't have any right to do what you did, but then again you had no choice. Next time wait for me to show up."  
  
Connor nodded and his eyes widened, "Oh yeah, Will said something about you paying me and that I should learn the ideals of the capitalistic society."  
  
Angel raised his eyebrow, "Later. Go to bed, it's been a long night," and with that, father and son headed off to their separate rooms respectively, ready to sleep until morning. 


	31. Secrets

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. Joss, the insane god he is (the rat bastard he is), owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine. Oh, and inspiration comes from Jen and L. gidgetgirl and Ivorycat respectively. My inspiration for the plot came from L's work with Connor's Just Desserts and Jen is always giving me ideas.  
  
Author's Note: This fic will be ending soon. I want to move onto bigger and better things. Now no comment from the peanut gallery! I'm hopefully working on a series of short fics dealing with Jen's character Anni from her fics and co-writing a fic with three fellow authors, called Saving the Series: The Torch Bearer. I'm also looking forward to working on three new fics, but you'll have to wait for them. But now onto the story.  
  
Summary: Kid's say the darndest things.  
  
**************  
  
Chapter Thirty-One: Secrets  
  
Casey held onto Connor's hand as they waited outside Claire's house. "What movie are we seeing?" Casey asked for the third time since they had been standing there.  
  
Connor looked down on her, a scowl fixed firmly on his face, and "I told you the last time you asked and the time before that, I don't know but if you don't stop asking, we're going right back home and your not seeing a movie."  
  
Casey pouted, but stayed quiet none the less. She really wanted to go out and see a movie. It was boring at the hotel; no one knew how to play right. Well Cordelia and Fred did, but Cordelia was always busy looking at the computer, and taking notes; never wanting to play with her. Fred would sometimes, but other than that, no one would play. And Connor never put up with learning to play. So there was nothing to do.  
  
"Hey guys!" Casey opened the door and greeted them. "Come on in, Charlie's still getting ready. Vain he is," she smiled as Connor walked in, Casey's hand firmly in his.  
  
As they sat in the living room, Casey stared at Claire with her head tilted to the side, as if she was in deep thought. "Claire," she said finally, "why are you so shiny?"  
  
Connor gave her a strange look as Claire snorted, almost spitting out the water she had just previously taken a sip of. "What do you mean shiny?" Claire asked slowly.  
  
Casey gave her an obvious look. "You're shiny! You've got colors swirling about, a lot of light colors. Purple, blue, silver and white. And you have wings! No fair, I want wings!" Casey stomped her foot.  
  
Connor gave her a hard look, "Stop making things up, and stop stamping your foot. Dad said if you started to act like a brat I can bring you home and you can forget about the movies." Casey returned the look, but stopped her stamping and fell silent, but she pouted.  
  
Claire looked at the little girl in slight amazement before she heard Charlie come in. She closed her eyes as she saw Casey turn to him. "Why are you shiny too?" she demanded.  
  
"Casey, that's enough! Stop making things up," Connor said firmly. He didn't understand where she was getting this stuff from.  
  
"But I'm not making anything up!" Casey said, her eyes tearing a little. "They are shiny, but in different ways. Claire's cold while Charlie's really, really hot." She didn't get it when everyone smirked in the room, but she went on. "Claire's all silvery and stuff while Charlie's gold. But they both have wings. It's no fair!" she stomped her foot.  
  
Connor rolled his eyes, "Casey, stop it." He was tired of all the nonsense that was spewing from the girl's mouth. He had no clue where it was coming from.  
  
Claire gave a guilty look, "You know Connor, she's not making this up," she said slowly.  
  
Connor looked at her, and then to Charlie, and back to Claire. "What?" he deadpanned.  
  
Claire and Charlie shared a look, "We're not exactly as we seem," Charlie said.  
  
"We all have our secrets," Connor said slowly.  
  
"But our secrets, well they're sorta big. And Casey here let the cat out of the bag per sey," Claire flicked her eyes down toward the girl. "Since you know, I guess I should show. Charlie doesn't if he doesn't want to, it's his choice," she looked at him pointedly and then looked at the other two. Putting a hand on her right cheek, she had it pass over to the left side, revealing totally different person.  
  
Ice blonde hair fell in a sheet down the back and slightly pointed ears protruded. Ice blue eyes looked up, but they danced in merriment. Her skin was pale like snow. "I told you I looked different," her voice was more musical, as if she sang every note. Standing up she stretched, giving them a look at her wings, which looked like insect wings  
  
They glittered in the sunlight that streamed through the window, giving them a hazy blue look to them. Flapping them a few times, Claire rose up in the air a few inches before settling back down. "Wow, I haven't done that in a while," she smiled.  
  
Connor just stared as Casey clapped her hands. "I told you I wasn't making this up. Can you do that again though?" she turned to Charlie. "Will you do that too? Squinting hurts," she said plainly.  
  
Charlie smiled and did the same thing Claire had done, only he had different results. His hair was a fiery red and curly and his eyes a warm brown, like a burning log. His complexion was slightly flushed like he had just come in from running. When he stood, orange colored wings flittered slightly, shaped more like a bat's than an insect.  
  
"You're really very pretty," Casey came over to them and looked up, squinting and tilting her head no more. "But you'll get stared at if you go out like that."  
  
Claire laughed and Connor looked at her, she was even more beautiful while like this, and if he could, he fell that just much more for her. "I guess your right, but what do we do then?" Claire asked as she picked up the giggling child and tickled her.  
  
"Can you make yourselves less shiny?" Casey asked as Claire dropped her down to the floor. She then went over to Charlie, who swung her up onto his shoulders.  
  
Claire and Charlie shared a look and Claire shrugged, "I guess we could." Closing her eyes for a second, her wings seemed to shimmer away, leaving only a memory of them being there. Her hair grew darker and a bit more curly, leaving the only her eyes the true source of what she was. Charlie stood still and did the same thing that Claire had just done, with Casey on his shoulders.  
  
"It tickles!" Casey squealed in laughter.  
  
Charlie chuckled as the change took place, his hair became a few shades darker, like the color of cinnamon, and his wings shrank into his back. The seemingly flushed face grew a shade paler, but his eyes held the same warmth as ever.  
  
"Can we see the movie now?" Casey demanded, forgetting all about what had just happened.  
  
"What do you say? Claire turned to Connor who just stood there, seeming to feel like he was out of place. "Do we see the movie now?"  
  
"Yes!" Casey cried, clapping her hands together, nearly falling off of Charlie's shoulders, if it wasn't for him grabbing her legs, she would of.  
  
"Be careful!" Connor nearly screeched when he saw Casey fall backwards, even though her legs were tightly pinned to Charlie's chest by Charlie's hands.  
  
"I am!" Casey called back as they walked towards the door.  
  
As they walked down the street, Casey had the time of her life atop Charlie's shoulders, which she pronounced the top of the world. Connor and Claire hung back together, talking quietly.  
  
"So you're not mad?" Claire said softly, watching Casey laugh.  
  
Connor looked at her, and caught her hand in his, "Like I said before, we all have our secrets."  
  
**************  
  
Author's Note 2: Like I said before, this will be ending soon. In three to four chapters soon. Don't worry, it will be a happy ending. But I will be writing more fics; I already have three planned out, not to mention my series of short fics about Jen's character, Anni.  
  
Never Say Never: Four kids have power over the elements, or do the power of the elements have power over them? It's your choice. But they have to battle the force of darkness and nightmares in order to save the world from destruction, ruin and quiet possibly an apocalypse.again.  
  
A New Dawn, A New Life: Dawn died that night up in the tower, she jumped to save the world, only there was nothing to prove it, no body, nothing, save only for the fact that the world was still there. But the thing is, she was transported two years into the future, with the mind and body of a five year old child, protected this time by a slayer still, but maybe this will give a new life to every party involved.  
  
Unnamed fic: An answer to a challenge: What if Angel wasn't the only vampire capable of having children? Spike has a grown daughter/son who comes to Sunnydale/L.A. and causes trouble somehow.  
  
Of course, it's not one child Spike has to worry about; it's all three. Three girls raised to kill anything they're told has made their way to California. But maybe they're not all that they seem, after all with a vampire as a father, who knows what's in store? 


	32. Getting to Know You in a Biblical Sense

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. Joss, the insane god he is (the rat bastard he is too), owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine. Oh, and inspiration comes from Jen and L. gidgetgirl and Ivorycat respectively. My inspiration for the plot came from L's work with Connor's Just Desserts and Jen is always giving me ideas.  
  
Author's Note: This fic will be ending soon. Like two chapters soon I want to move onto bigger and better things. Now no comment from the peanut gallery! I'm hopefully working on a series of short fics dealing with Jen's character Anni from her fics and co-writing a fic with three fellow authors, called Saving the Series: The Torch Bearer. I'm also looking forward to working on three new fics, but you'll have to wait for them. But now onto the story.  
  
Summary: The end of the world.again?  
  
*************  
  
Chapter Thirty-Two: Getting to Know You.in a Biblical Sense  
  
"The world is ending," Gunn stated as he looked at the series of pieces of paper, all where lined with red lines, seeming to make no sense at all.  
  
"And we're smack dab in the middle of it," Lorne agreed.  
  
That was the general consensus. There was no war around it. They had out about the rising danger around the middle of November, about the time Casey turned herself into a four-year-old.  
  
They continued to looked at the sheets of paper, willing something that made sense to come out of them. They only hid them if they heard someone coming.  
  
"Think we should tell Angel and Wesley?" Lorne asked finally. It was hard hiding this big of a secret from the rest of the Fang Gang.  
  
Gunn nodded, "There's nothing else we can do," standing, the two walked towards the office, where they knew Angel and Wesley were.  
  
As they walked away, they left the papers sitting at the main desk, thinking that if someone saw them, they would think that they were just random sheets about a case. A few minutes later, Connor and Casey walked down. Now that Casey was back to her normal self, they had been fighting like cats and dogs, so everything was back to normal. That is, as normal can get when your father's over 200 years old and a vampire. "Hold up!" Casey said, stopping in front of the desk.  
  
"What?" Connor said impatiently. Casey had interrupted him, again.  
  
"Get over here," Casey pulled her brother over.  
  
"It's a bunch of scribbles, so?" Connor said plainly, not seeing why they were so important that Casey had to ogle over them. After all, she only did that if there was a picture of a guy she deemed as hot on it, and Connor was sure those lines did not make up a picture of a guy.  
  
"Are you that oblivious?" Casey asked, her hands on her hips. "It's coming. The world is coming to an end."  
  
Connor sighed and rolled his eyes, "Again?"  
  
Casey looked at him, a hard look in her eye. She had changed during the time he was four. "The world is ending, and you don't seem to care. Maybe you don't understand the meaning of that sentence. The world is going to end, no more world."  
  
Connor rolled his eyes again, "Of course I can, and of course I understand. The Super Bowl is next month, and I want to see that."  
  
It was Casey's turn to roll her eyes, but this time she flipped her hair. "The world is going to end, and you're worried about a stupid football game. It figures you're a man. But if the world ends, there will be no Super Bowl, or football for that matter, ever again."  
  
Connor shrugged, "We'll survive. We always do."  
  
Casey sighed, Connor was thick headed, she knew that, but she didn't know he was this thickheaded. "Whatever you say. Of course, don't blame me if you're perishing in a rain of fire. I'm going out, it's better to do everything I can before, you know," she gave him a hard look to her brother. "Don't say I didn't warn you," and with that, she was gone, out the door.  
  
Connor shook his head. Casey was blowing this out of proportion, he knew that they would always make it, even if it was by the seat of their pants. Going upstairs he stopped at the landing, Wesley, Gunn, and Lorne were coming out of the office, sounding worried. Connor backed up a bit, making sure that they could see him, but he could hear them.  
  
"Good neither Connor nor Casey are here. That will save us some time," Wesley said, the sound of shuffling papers could be heard.  
  
Connor narrowed his eyes slightly. Why would it be bad if his sister or himself knew what was up? Never mind the fact Casey already seemed to know already. He really didn't want to know how she found out.  
  
"Yeah, papa bear in there doesn't want Sparky or Goldielocks to know what's up. But knowing those two, for get it. Casey seems to know before you tell her, probably from snooping, and Connor just glares at you until you spill the beans." Lorne chuckled.  
  
Connor could here Gunn laugh from downstairs, he knew he could trust the black man, even if they had their differences in the past. "But they're going to find out. The warning signs are not going to be hard to miss."  
  
Connor balked, warning signs? What were they talking about, and what did his father not want him to know, and why?  
  
"So when's this big ugly showing his face?" Lorne asked, his usual cheerfulness forced and fake.  
  
"Tonight," Wesley's voice was grave, and Connor had to bite the inside of his cheek so he would not gasp, and therefore allow them to detect him eavesdropping.  
  
Figuring he had heard enough, Connor headed upstairs. Scribbling a not, he exited though his window, smirking, he was reminded of the last time he had did this. Jumping down, he took off running towards Claire's house, if the world was going to end, he was going to have fun.  
  
Casey rang the doorbell to Charlie's apartment, which he shared with Will. Tapping her foot for a few minutes, she rang the bell again, impatient. "Hold your horses! I was in the shower!" Charlie's voice came through the door a minute before it opened.  
  
"And what if I don't have any horses to hold?" Casey smirked when she saw Charlie.  
  
Charlie just shrugged, "Come in beautiful," he opened the door a little bit more, and as Casey walked in, she brushed past his towel-covered form.  
  
"What did your mother tell you about answering the door in just a towel?" Casey demanded once she was inside, her hands on her hips.  
  
"Well, um." Charlie stumbled.  
  
Casey's face broke out into a grin, "I never said I didn't approve." She walked over to him, and ran her hand up and down his chest. "The world's ending, so why don't we have some fun?" she gave him a devilish grin and led her boyfriend to his bedroom.  
  
"Connor!" Claire said as he opened the front door of her house that was the last person she expected to be calling. Usually they would meet at the pizza place a few blocks away; but then again, Connor always seemed to take refuge at her house.  
  
"Ready to have the best time of your life?" Connor asked, leaning on the doorframe. He raised his eyebrow suggestively.  
  
Claire laughed, "I think we have plenty of time to do that," she told him as she pulled him into the house and out of the street.  
  
"Not if the world is about to end," Connor shrugged.  
  
"The world is about to end? What are you taking?" Claire demanded.  
  
Connor scowled, "I wouldn't joke about this. Casey warned me, and you know how she is now. I also heard Wesley, Gunn, and Lorne talking," he sighed and leaned against the closest wall. "I don't know what to called it, but I care for you, deeply. It's like what I feel for Casey, but different," Connor looked down at his shoes, not sure of Claire's reaction.  
  
"Connor," Claire's hand found his own and he brought his head up. "What I think you're feeling is love. But are you sure this is the right time and place for it?"  
  
Connor nodded, capturing his lips with hers, "Carpe diem," he whispered to her lips.  
  
"Seize the day," Claire whispered back. Grabbing his hand, she started to walk up them. "Suddenly," she turned to him, "I feel the need to know you, in the Biblical sense anyway.  
  
A few blocks away, Casey and Charlie were in a very similar situation. They sat in his room, on his bed, watching TV. "I don't know how you can watch this crap," Charlie muttered, tracing a patter on her stomach lazily.  
  
"Aw, just wait a few minutes and the blood and guts will show up. Besides the guy who plays John Doe is hot," Casey giggled, and then giggled some more as Charlie hit a particularly ticklish spot on her stomach. "Stop!" she finally got out a few minutes later, her face red from laughter.  
  
"You're so cute when you laugh," Charlie said before he captured her mouth with his. Still continuing to draw patterns, but his time, slower, more erotic, and on her back.  
  
"Suddenly, the world ending doesn't look so bad," Casey said as her back arched.  
  
That night found the city of LA plunged into a rain of fire, darkness, and earthquakes. But four teens didn't notice it, because the four teens had finally found their soul mates. And felt a loved that only they could feel with their partner.  
  
"Wow, you were right when you said the world was about to end," Claire said as she shrugged on a man's button down shirt, which barely reached her mid thighs.  
  
Connor walked over to the window, and wrapped his arms around Claire. "Why would I be wrong?" he asked, kissing her neck.  
  
Claire laughed, "I've known guys who will just say something to get a girl into he bed. Although saying the world is going to end is a bit drastic," she almost purred in contentment when Connor kissed a particular spot on her neck.  
  
"Heh," Connor smirked, "Well I'm think I should get back to the hotel. I've been gone all night, and knowing Casey, she's already ratted me out."  
  
Claire looked at him. "You don't trust her at all do you?" she questions as she went into her closet to find clothes for her to wear.  
  
Connor's mouth twisted into a smirk, "No I don't. Remember when I had to baby sit her a few weeks ago, she demanded to play with a crossbow. I'm not going to trust any four year old who has an aversion to pointy things that can be used as weapons."  
  
Claire laughed as she came back out, a plastic shopping bag in her hands. "She probably got it from you. Now here are the clothes you left here. They're clean, and you need clean clothes. Now go change while I try to find the ones you threw off last night.  
  
Connor grinned and took the bag. Thirty minutes later they were walking to the Hyperion, trying to stay as close to buildings as possible. Darkness still reigned over the sky, and could see the balls of fire come down periodically.  
  
They were just about to end the hotel when they saw Will, Casey, and Charlie walking up. "Not you too!" Will wailed as the three came walking up.  
  
"Whatever are you blathering about?" Claire feigned innocence as Connor reached for her hand.  
  
"Your glow de sex. You fucked like bunnies last night, didn't you? In fact I know you did. I can smell the both of you all over each other," Will continued on and on.  
  
"Wait, what do you mean when you said, 'not you too'?" Connor looked suspiciously at Charlie and Casey.  
  
"Oh nothing. I just walked in this morning to find both of them asleep in the boy's bed, naked." Will shot a glare in the general direction of Casey and Charlie. "They got they kept it inside the bedroom, I hope."  
  
Connor's eyes bugged out when he heard the news, but Claire's warning squeeze on his hand told him to keep quiet. "I won't tell if you won't," she said finally. Casey nodded in agreement.  
  
They stood in silence for a moment before Will broke it, "They may fool everyone, save for Peaches. He'll smell it the second you walk in to door."  
  
Casey smirked, "What's he gonna do, ground us? New flash, the world is going to end."  
  
They looked at each other for a moment before a large rumbled interrupted it. Connor and Casey shared one last look before they headed towards the hotel's main entrance.  
  
**********  
  
Author's Note 2: Like I said before, this will be ending soon. In two chapters soon. Don't worry, it will be a happy ending. But I will be writing more fics; I already have three planned out, not to mention my series of short fics about Jen's character, Anni.  
  
Never Say Never: Four kids have power over the elements, or do the power of the elements have power over them? It's your choice. But they have to battle the force of darkness and nightmares in order to save the world from destruction, ruin and quiet possibly an apocalypse.again.  
  
A New Dawn, A New Life: Dawn died that night up in the tower, she jumped to save the world, only there was nothing to prove it, no body, nothing, save only for the fact that the world was still there. But the thing is, she was transported two years into the future, with the mind and body of a five year old child, protected this time by a slayer still, but maybe this will give a new life to every party involved.  
  
Unnamed fic: An answer to a challenge: What if Angel wasn't the only vampire capable of having children? Spike has a grown daughter/son who comes to Sunnydale/L.A. and causes trouble somehow.  
  
Of course, it's not one child Spike has to worry about; it's all three. One girl was taught to kill, one girl can see things unseen, and one girl is a walking encyclopedia. Of course together, they have the power to destroy the world.or save it.  
  
Okay, on another note, are you people reading? I mean seriously, I had a lot of readers before, and then suddenly y'all disappeared. Now I would really like some response from y'all if you like the story or not. Yeah, I know it's ending, but I want to know. Please review, I mean hello.it takes me hours to write and type up a fic, it takes you five minutes to read it and press the little review button.  
  
Think about it. 


	33. Showdown

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. Joss, the insane god he is (the rat bastard he is too), owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine. Oh, and inspiration comes from Jen and L. gidgetgirl and Ivorycat respectively. My inspiration for the plot came from L's work with Connor's Just Desserts and Jen is always giving me ideas.  
  
Author's Note: This fic will be ending soon. Like one more chapter soon I want to move onto bigger and better things. Now no comment from the peanut gallery! I'm hopefully working on a series of short fics dealing with Jen's character Anni from her fics and co-writing a fic with three fellow authors, called Saving the Series: The Torch Bearer. I'm also looking forward to working on three new fics, but you'll have to wait for them. But now onto the story.  
  
Summary: The fight commences.  
  
*************  
  
Chapter Thirty-Three: Showdown  
  
As the group of five walked into the hotel, surprising the people who were in the lobby, Angel looked up, glared at his children and went back to what he was doing. Will leaned down and whispered, "Told ya so," before he straitened up and walked towards the main desk where Angel was working. "So Peaches, what's this about the world ending?"  
  
Angel's eyes flicked up, "Go away Spike, this is serious," he muttered.  
  
Will sneered, "And who said I wasn't being serious. Look, you'll need all the help you can get, and quite frankly if this didn't have to do with Claire or Charlie, I wouldn't be here, but I am. So deal."  
  
Angel rolled his eyes, but monitored him to sit anyway. Everyone else followed suit, although Casey chose to jump up on the main desk and sitting next to her father. Charlie looked lost for a moment before sitting next to Will. Connor settled on the floor and Claire chose his lap as her space.  
  
"We're fighting," Angel looked around, "something. I don't know what it is. There's little to no information on it, so to put it honestly, we're screwed, royally. As far as I can tell, it appears as the one foes you cannot defeat. But that was written in prophecy, and in an archaic language, so it could be wrong. If you fight, you very well may lose your life. But it's your choice." He finished and looked around. Everyone was staring at him with the same look in his or her eye, determination.  
  
He gave a small, half smile, "We may stand a chance." With that, he stood up and walked over to the weapons cabinet. "Take your pick," he smirked as he unlocked it, and swung the doors outward.  
  
"Come on boys, let's get to it!" Will said as he jumped up, taking a sword out of the cabinet, swinging it. "Nice balance Peaches," he said to Angel before going off and swinging it a bit more.  
  
Casey chose the crossbow, smiling as she felt the familiar weight of the weapon in her hands. Smirking at Connor she grabbed a quiver and strapped it on her back. Connor had gone for an axe as had Gunn, they both grinned at each other as they took them. Connor's was a double bladed axe, with blades at both ends. Gunn's was a simple single blade axe, but he wielded it with acute accuracy.  
  
Claire grabbed Chines Throwing Stars while Charlie grabbed another sword, and went off to start to fence with Will. Fred also grabbed herself a crossbow and quiver. Lorne, Cordelia, Wesley, and Angel took what was left.  
  
"We're ready Angel," Cordelia said softly, putting a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"And we're off," he said to himself, hoping he would see every last one of them at the end of this fight.  
  
As they walked out the door, in single file, the earth rumbled, but they continued on, to the epicenter of it all. When they did, Cordelia, Lorne, Angel, Wesley, Fred, and Gunn had to hold in their shock, it was where Connor had been born, and where Darla had died, by staking herself.  
  
"Ah, you've come," a sinister voice said from behind, when everyone turned, their eyes turned white with fear. It was what they all feared most.  
  
Gunn, his sister. Lorne, his clan back in Pylea. Fred, a portal back to Pylea. Wesley, his father. Cordelia, a psychopathic Xander staking Angel. Connor, Holtz, the man's hands streaked with blood, Casey's blood. Casey, Holtz, coming toward her, his hands raised. Claire, Connor sneering at her, laughing. Charlie, the vampire who killed his mother. Will, Buffy, the vampire slayer. Angel, himself, is other half, Angelus.  
  
"You think you can beat me?" it said, mock everyone.  
  
Angel tried to stay calm, but when one looks at the exact double of you, it is a little unnerving. "What do you want?" he asked, his voice holding no quiver.  
  
"To end the world of course," Angelus laughed, of course when Angelus said this, it would be someone else when for instance Casey saw it, or Gunn did.  
  
All at once everyone was in a flurry of motion, fueled by the intense hurt at what they thought they saw. It had no trouble throwing the less experienced warriors off, such as Fred, Casey and Claire. Connor watched them be flung into the brick wall, and he wanted to go and see if they were alright, but he was busy.  
  
One by one, people were knocked off, Cordelia, Gunn, Lorne, and Wesley. They all lay in a bloody heap. At first glance they looked as if they were just knocked out, but on closer inspection, one could see the blood dribbling from their mouths, and their eyes open, unblinking. They were dead. Soon Charlie was down, then Will, and then finally only Angel was left, Connor had been flung into the air, landing on his head, giving a sickening crack. His neck was broken.  
  
Finally Angelus and Angel stared one another in the eye.  
  
"What are you going to do now?" Angelus taunted as Angel's bruised and battered body stood before him. "You're nothing, you'll never amount to anything, you're worthless." Angelus' body morphed into Liam's father, James. "Worthless boy, worthless," he Irish brogue was harsh, bringing Angel back to reality.  
  
He balked at the figure that had once been his father, life times ago. He then realized he could stand up to the phantom.  
  
"I am not worthless, Father," he spit out the last word like a curse. "I made mistakes, and I paid for them. I took responsibility. I have," he looked at the pile of broken bodies, "I had a family. I am not worthless," he repeated  
  
The phantom glared at Angel one last time, before something on the inside started to eat it, bright shining white light coming through the holes, blinding Angel. The light burned his skin, and soon, he past out because of the burning pain.  
  
*************  
  
Author's Note 2: Yes, I left you a cliffhanger, shame on me. *grin* But there is a reason why I left it there. So the next chapter could be longer. Yes, I know this chapter's short, but the next one will be the last one, and it will be good, I promise. Now will you all please review? I mean, hello, It takes me forever to write these out, and you just read them in five minutes. Just take a minute to e-mail me or review, it's greatly appreciated.  
  
Think about it. 


	34. Redemption

Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. Joss, the insane god he is (the rat bastard he is too), owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine. Oh, and inspiration comes from Jen and L. gidgetgirl and Ivorycat respectively. My inspiration for the plot came from L's work with Connor's Just Desserts and Jen is always giving me ideas.  
  
Author's Note: This fic will be ending soon. Like one more chapter soon I want to move onto bigger and better things. Now no comment from the peanut gallery! I'm hopefully working on a series of short fics dealing with Jen's character Anni from her fics and co-writing a fic with three fellow authors, called Saving the Series: The Torch Bearer. I'm also looking forward to working on three new fics, but you'll have to wait for them. But now onto the story.  
  
Summary: The End is near.  
  
******************  
  
Chapter Thirty-Four: Redemption  
  
Angel came to slowly, finding himself in a white room. "What the hell?" he muttered to himself. Then it all came back to him.  
  
It, evil came, threatening to destroy the world. Everyone fighting, everyone dying. He remembered the bloody bodies and he felt tears pelt down his face. "My little boy, may little girl," he whispered to himself, tracing his arms, seeing if he had any type of weapon on him. He had nothing to live for anymore, he had nothing; the best way out was to end it all right there. In the white room. Nobody would know, no body would care if all he was, was a pile of dust.  
  
But he found nothing, and gone were the dark pants and shirt her wore, instead, he found himself in white shirt and pants. They were lose on him, but they were clean. He sighed in frustration, why was he here? Why was he spared? "Why?" he whispered to himself, pitifully.  
  
"Because this is your redemption," a soft voice brought him out if his almost trance like state.  
  
"Redemption? But I don't have anything to live for," Angel said as he looked up. When he saw who stood in front oh him. "Cordelia?" he whispered, hope in his voice.  
  
"No," the woman shook her head, her dark curls falling against her face gently. "I only look like her. Would you like it if I changed?"  
  
Angel nodded, not trusting his voice. 'Cordelia Chase' nodded and slowly started to shrink, into Buffy Summers. He paled at this and the woman frowned, and she began to morph again, this time into Casey. Furrowing it's brow, it glared at Angel, "Well what do you expect me to turn into?"  
  
Angel sighed, and looked back up, "I don't know. Anything you turn into hurts too much."  
  
The thing smirked and turned into Doyle, Angel's one time seer, and half demon. Frowning, it shook its head and then finally turned into a young girl, with brown hair plaited down her back. "That's it, I'm showing my true self, you're too weepy," she said, her bottom lip protruded slightly.  
  
"Kathy?" Angel asked, amazement. It was his, well Liam's, little sister, Kathryn. Often known as Kathy. It was someone he hadn't seen in well over 250 years.  
  
She smirked, something he never remembered doing. "And give the boy a prize. I'm your first kill, I'm the last person you have to save in order to reach redemption."  
  
Angel was confused, "What do I have to do?" he asked finally.  
  
"Take my hand, and go back to the land of the living." Kathy offered her hand, and Angel looked at it.  
  
"But what is there to live for?" he asked slowly, Kathy had never told him what redemption really was.  
  
"Family, you're family. You will live for your family. You saved the entire population of Earth, suddenly, that outweighs the evils that Angelus committed. Your family will be given back." Kathy kneeled down and looked Angel in the eye. "You'll have a reason to live, your family."  
  
Angel looked back up at her, determination clear in his eyes. "Give me your hand," he said finally. "I'll do anything to get my family back."  
  
The two siblings linked hands and Angel felt himself grow lighter and almost float away. As quickly as the feeling came, it was gone. Blinking, Angel found himself in the Hyperion, across from his stood Kathy, his sister, dressed in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt.  
  
"What?" he asked her under his breath.  
  
"I simply folded time. It's about March 2002 right now," Kathy answered him.  
  
They talked for awhile and Kathy proceeded to fill Angel in. But when he asked about Casey or Connor, she stayed strangely silent. They had stumbled on to their fifth silence when Cordelia burst into the room. "Angel!" she cried, running to him. She embraced him, and he returned the hug awkwardly. But he soon grew comfortable in it, and drew her closer.  
  
"What's up sweetie?" the words came naturally to Angel, and before he could put a puzzled look upon his face, Cordelia burst out into a large smile.  
  
"You're going to be a daddy, twice!" she giggled and smiled at the same time. "I'm three months pregnant, with twins!"  
  
"That's wonderful Cordy!" Kathy said from where she was standing.  
  
Cordelia turned and faced the teenage girl. "You'll be an aunt, and with Angel finally having his shanshu, he can be a normal father."  
  
Angel grinned, "But most father's aren't almost 300 years old."  
  
Kathy laughed, "Technicalities. But you should be happy; you get your own little pack of rugrats to terrorize the hotel. And I get to spoil them," she looked at her watch and her hand went to her mouth, "I'm late! I'll see you two later!" With that she bounded out of the hotel and into the settling of night.  
  
"Hi Will! Bye Will!" she said as she passed the bleached blonde vampire.  
  
"Oi Queenie, Peaches, guess what!" Will swaggered in, well as much as one can when they are pushing a double baby stroller in front of them.  
  
"What have we told you about kidnapping Spike?" Cordelia joked as she walked toward the vampire.  
  
Will just smirked, but generally ignored the comment, "I'm an uncle!" he looked so proud and Cordelia squealed.  
  
"Babies!" Cordelia squealed again and dropped down to her knees to inspect the two bundles of joy.  
  
"The one on my left," Will indicated the smaller one that was dressed in pink, "is Claire, she's 2 months old. And the one on my right," he pointed to the larger one who was dressed in a pair of blue overalls and a red shirt, "is Charlie, he's 16 months old."  
  
"They're so cute!" Cordelia said as she instantly went into mother mode, "Aren't they Angel?"  
  
Angel just grinned and nodded.  
  
Five months later Cordelia was in the hospital, very pregnant, and very much in labor.  
  
"Drugs!" she called out in pain, making Angel wince slightly.  
  
"You just have to wait a moment," Angel said softly, but Cordelia only shot him a look.  
  
"But I don't want to wait a moment, I want the drugs now," Cordelia ground out. Angel only nodded and left the room, hoping he could bribe someone enough to go in there instead.  
  
"Coffee?" Kathy shoved a cup of the steaming beverage into Angel's hand.  
  
"How did you know?" Angel said as he accepted it gratefully. Taking a deep gulp, he made a face. This coffee defiantly didn't live up to Starbucks.  
  
"I could hear her. I'm going to find a nurse, maybe get something to calm Cordy down. I'll see you in a bit," and with that she was off, leaving Angel alone in the hallway, the cup of coffee in his hand.  
  
A couple hours later, a nurse called Angel into the room, saying that his wife was requesting his presence. He blushed at that. They weren't married.yet. Seeing as he was still leery about stepping foot inside of a church and the whole burning when touching a cross thing he had to endure for almost 300 years, he was still avoiding churches like the plague.  
  
A couple of more hours went by, and soon Cordelia and Angel were bestowed with two darling children. And when the nurse asked for names, Angel's eyes glistened with unshed tears, which everyone thought were of happiness, but in all actuality it was for the two children these were supposed to replace. "Connor for the boy, and Casey for the girl. Cordy, please choose the middle names," he said quickly.  
  
He felt slightly bad about stilling Cordy out of the naming process, and no doubt he would get an earful later, but the names just seemed to fit. When the proud parents were left alone with their children for 'bonding time' as the nurse put it, Angel gave a sorry look to Cordelia, "Sweetie, I'm sorry I just blurted out those names."  
  
Cordelia gave him a strange look, "Why are you sorry? The names are perfect; they are perfect. But suddenly I think our lives are about to change, big time. But maybe it's for the better." She smiled at him as he smiled back and nodded.  
  
So this is what redemption was about, it was about life. And life was about family. Granted his family was a little bit odd, but then again, what family wasn't? But he wouldn't have his any other way. Family was family, and this one was his.  
  
The End 


End file.
